Lord of the Tattoos
by CrimsonChoucho
Summary: Rin is kidnapped by a dark priestess, Sesshomaru is forced to learn compassion for others or risk losing her forever. The twist is he must learn through the eyes of a human, he selects the child that will become the demon of the Bakamatsu.
1. How This Begins

**Lord of the Tattoos**

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Crossover: InuYasha and Rurouni Kenshin

This was re-posted on July 2nd, 2011

Prompt idea: Sesshomaru becomes Shinta/Kenshin Himura in order to learn what it means to be human. He does this to save the only person he ever showed kindness to, Rin.

Disclaimer: No money, no fame, and no glory to be made by these works. Only mystification at how complicated it is to be kind. Also there is swearing in this...

Lord Sesshomaru is forced to abandon being lord of the western lands to InuYasha after Rin is kidnapped, In order to save her he must first learn humility, for that he must be human. Sesshomaru, being a demon lord refuses to give up everything for the girl, however he agrees to take the place of a human during one of the bloodiest battles of all time. Bakamatsu.

**Chapter 1-How This Begins**

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The Lord of the Western Lands was not amused at the plot that had started to unfold around him, this had started off as a semi pleasant day with more than enough reasons to keep it that way. Of course when things go that well they are destined to go bad early on. When Jaken approached him that afternoon during the break in his duties was when the notion struck him, it was far too quiet.

Jaken had been threatened into silence long ago, but Rin had always managed to either visit by this time or to land herself in trouble that reached his ears by now. He looked at the small impish aid that awaited his orders, he looked uneasy, Sesshomaru frowned. The only reason for that expression was when the small aid had bad news…

"Jaken, what has become of Rin?" he asked dryly. The little imp was wringing his hand like appendages together, he was also emitting the irritating musk of fear. Under reasonable conditions, the little imp only preformed tasks that he himself had no time to do, this left only the demon's normal scent.

"Uh, you see Sesshomaru sama, it's an interesting story…" the advisor begun, Sesshomaru sat up straight looking over at the demon with a solid 'get to the point' glare. "She was kidnapped it seems, and after having breakfast with you my lord. She's been missing since, and A-un has been looking for her, but to no avail."

"Then I suggest Jaken, that you get out there and look, if she isn't found in an hour I am feeding you to A-un. Do you understand that?" Sesshomaru leaned in on his laced fingers with an imposing face. The Daiyoukai then did something more terrifying to the little demon than anything else he could do, he smiled. The small advisor shook with fear before doing a great impression of Myoga the flea.

"That was just a might bit cruel, don't you think, Sesshomaru sama?"

Sesshomaru looked up at the sound of the female voice that had filled his room momentarily. He set down his brush, and cracked his knuckles ready to poison whomever had dared to sneak up on him in his home.

"Show yourself," he growled, he had spent too much time around his younger brother. His patience had deluded to nothing, and his anger was easy to rouse from where it used to lay mostly dormant. The female chuckled, but still there was no one to be seen and no scent save his own pissed off. He stood and walked to the door, slamming it open and looking down to each end of the hallway. Still there was nothing, the Lord of the Western Lands growled. No one played mind games with him and lived to tell the tale.

He stalked off down the hall, fully preparing to take off when he was stopped by members of his court. They didn't detain him long when they noticed the look of utter malice raging behind his eyes. Two headless morons later he was flying out towards something he could always vent his frustration on. When a sacred arrow just missed his left ear he decided that just maybe he should leave his idiot brother alone this time.

"Sesshomaru, hey SESSHOMARU!" the annoying wench of a miko called up to him. He wasn't sure whether he should ignore her or behead her for her insolence… As another arrow passed the crown of his head he decided beheading sounded really nice to him at the moment. "I'm trying to get your attention down here for a reason you stubborn jackass. I need your help!" He drifted towards the ground wondering why on earth the day just had to take such an irritating turn. As he touched down the bow was lowered and the miko sighed deeply.

"Out with it then, I do not have the luxury of wasting time on you right now human," Sesshomaru stood straight making the human girl hunch in slight fear even if she didn't totally realize it at the time. She placed the bow on her back and approached cautiously.

"I need your help, InuYasha's been killed and its all my fault," the girl was on the verge of tears, and with her statement Sesshomaru felt the hair on the back of his neck rise in anger. His eyes narrowed, he gave her the motion to continue. "I need you to use the Tenseiga on him and bring him back to life, it was my fault he was there in the first place…"

"Never mind the sob story human, where is he?" Sesshomaru fought down the urge to smack the woman's head for being so stupid, "InuYasha is mine to kill when I choose, not by some other demon when you get in way over your head. Do you understand this? The Tenseiga's powers are not limitless, it will not work on the same person twice, not for bringing back from the dead. Otherwise I would have killed Jaken fifty times over by now."

The human nodded, and she lead him deeper into the forest. Sesshomaru doubted her at first, he could not smell InuYasha's peculiar half demon scent anywhere in here. Then there was the sound of running water, he then realized that had he killed the girl for her stupidity that he would never have found the body. Lodged beneath the surface of the water, blood still tainting the liquid was his brother's lifeless corpse. A rock the size of A-un weighing down the thing so it could not simply be removed or washed away by the current.

"I suppose you expect me to retrieve it as well?" the demon voiced annoyed, she nodded falling to her knees tears streaming, "you need to move back, wouldn't want that rock to land on you next after all." Sesshomaru examined the scene, there were far easier ways to go about this, such as simple grabbing the rock and throwing it aside, however that option did not bode well for the fact that Sesshomaru only had one arm.

InuYasha would have drifted down stream, lost to the current as Sesshomaru hurled the stone away. That meant he would have to do this some other way, either divert the water long enough to move the stone and the corpse or block the water's path enough to reduce the level and current to where the human could be of use. The thought of either of these in combination with the fact he was going to get wet either way made him that much more irritable.

He took the drew the Tokijin and walked upstream, determining that it was the simplest way he charged the sword. He heard the miko scream as he unleashed the Dragon's Strike shortening the water's path, sure enough the deeper trench did most of the work. He dammed up the remaining flow of water using nearby trees and a sword's swing of mud. The result was instead of the water level being taller than him it was now ankle deep in residual water. He let the frown disappear at the success of his semi involved plan.

He kicked the boulder off of InuYasha easily, examining the wounds and conditions of the corpse for the first time closely. Arrow wounds, several sword slices, and possibly lungs full of water, that sounded like a pitiful way to die… He placed the Tokijin in his teeth and drew the Tenseiga, the messengers from the underworld looked somewhat puzzled at the body and never saw the heavenly sword swing through them. He sheathed his swords as InuYasha started coughing up blood and water as he expected.

"That will teach you not to die by someone else's hand little brother," Sesshomaru was about to stalk off when he ran face first into a barrier. "Is this some kind of joke? Release me wench!" The horrified miko sat on the shore line puzzled, meaning that she had no hand in this annoyance. The daiyoukai swore, this day was turning out to be oh so fabulous…

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**Crimson Choucho:** This fic is based around Sesshomaru, not InuYasha.**  
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	2. Finding a Place

**Lord of the Tattoos**

Crossover: InuYasha and Rurouni Kenshin

Disclaimer: No money, no fame, and no glory to be made by these works. Only mystification at how complicated it is to be kind.

Lord Sesshomaru is forced to abandon being lord of the western lands to InuYasha after Rin is kidnapped, In order to save her he must first learn humility, for that he must be human. Sesshomaru, being a demon lord refuses to give up everything for the girl, however he agrees to take the place of a human during one of the bloodiest battles of all time. Bakamatsu.

I apologize, this first part is going to be rough no matter what because it's filler and back info. Oh, and for the record, I have an extreme dislike of Kagome and don't care much for Kaoru who is way to similar. Long live the clay Kikyo and the zombie Tomoe!

As for romance of the future, don't count on it. If there is, it'll probably be het considering what's in store.

**CHAPTER TWO- FINDING A PLACE**

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He approached the small human village cautiously, he knew what he had to do and really didn't want to do it. He approached the small farmer's hut, and the great and almighty Lord Sesshomaru knocked to ask permission to enter. A small woman with red hair slid the door open and away.

"Can I help you?" she asked nervously. Sesshomaru was fidgeting as well, he didn't really know how to ask, but it was the only way.

"Yes, and perhaps I can help you in return. May I speak with you and your husband inside?" Sesshomaru asked as politely as he could, "If that is alright with you?" He remembered the miko had explained that normal humans would be terrified if a demon came knocking at their door, she had told him to be polite and to let the humans decide.

"If you had meant me harm you would not have asked to come inside," the small red head smiled up at him innocently, "who are you by the way?"Sesshomaru smiled, the miko had said to be honest.

"I am Sesshomaru, the Daiyoukai that rules the western lands," Sesshomaru answered following the stunned woman inside. She motioned for him to sit while she prepared some tea. Her husband wandered in and he looked at Sesshomaru with a curious expression before looking at his wife.

"Is there a reason why we have a demon sitting in our house?" the farmer asked his wife, "especially with you expecting our second child." Sesshomaru raised an elegant snowy eyebrow, was he supposed to just leave now or what? He'd never dealt with humans on such a level besides Rin.

"Is now a bad time?" Sesshomaru asked. He was actually trying to learn something here, "I can wait outside if need be." The miko had given him just enough advice that he could arrange his 'lesson' without cheating. The farmer looked more shocked than his wife.

"No, stay Sesshomaru sama," the red headed woman spoke softly, "I wish to hear what you have to come to us to ask for. My husband and I would like to know." The Daiyoukai nodded sitting down near the door, giving the couple enough space they would feel comfortable.

"One of my subjects, a young human girl, was taken from me against her will. In order to help her I have been asked to learn human compassion," Sesshomaru explained, "in order to do this, I must start as a child. I came because I knew you were expecting." The wife was looking at Sesshomaru with a confused look, but the husband was suspicious. "This is not easy for me, nor will it be easy for the two of you."

"What are you trying to ask for Sesshomaru dono?"her husband asked with hesitation very apparent. Well the miko's advice had worked so far, he could handle it from here. All he had to do was be honest and make sure they understood that their infant son was going to survive.

"The person who took my charge, Rin, has demanded that I learn what human compassion is through the eyes of a human. Seeing as it is not possible for me to do so as I am," Sesshomaru knew this was going to be absolutely bite him if InuYasha ever found out. He bowed down to the two humans, "I want those eyes to be his." Sesshomaru looked up to their shocked expressions. Now he just had to wait.

"How do you plan on looking through his eyes?" the husband looked at him.

"Your son will not be harmed by the process, in fact, he'll be immortal at the end of this," Sesshomaru explained, "a human priestess told me to ask the parents before the process. So here I am." The red haired woman before him smiled deeply, standing and looking to her husband for a moment before walking up to Sesshomaru.

"Thank you for asking us Sesshomaru sama," she opened her arms, "I feel that you'll do the right thing Sesshomaru sama, whenever you're ready return to us." Sesshomaru didn't really understand how this worked at all, all he knew is that the mother of the child he was about to become agreed to his request.

"Thank you, I will return then once I have straightened out my affairs," Sesshomaru turned to leave when the husband stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Under normal circumstances Sesshomaru would have sliced clean through the arm of the man that dared such a movement, however circumstances were anything but normal. "Yes?"

"You mentioned helping us as well Sesshomaru dono, what did you mean by that?" the farmer asked taking his hand away. Sesshomaru looked down at the human, he had actually forgotten to mention that.

"I'll be bringing some gold with me as a token of thanks, it may help your family out in a rough time," Sesshomaru explained. With his quest completed he bid them adieu for the time being and returned to the Western Lands where all hell would break loose.

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**Crimson Choucho:** The only information we really know about Kenshin's parents is that his father was indeed a farmer (mentioned in Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal), and that they died from cholera when he was young. The reason I say second child is because in that movie he says "Oneesan" at one point while washing his hands in a stream. It's unclear when the stream scene takes place in the Rurouni Kenshin time line because Shinta is practicing swordsmanship with a stick, not a bokken(?) or proper wooden practice sword like Kaoru's in the first episode of the anime. So we don't know if he is referring to an actually sister or one of the three slave girls killed during the bandit raid. I think that he may have a sister, and she might have died along with the parents do to the cholera, but that's just a theory.

There shouldn't be to much InuYasha in the next bits besides InuYasha becoming the Lord of the Western Lands while Sesshomaru is stuck learning about compassion, a lesson InuYasha should probably go through himself...


	3. Becoming Human

**Lord of the Tattoos**

Crossover: InuYasha and Rurouni Kenshin

Disclaimer: No money, no fame, and no glory to be made by these works. Only mystification at how complicated it is to be kind.

Lord Sesshomaru is forced to abandon being lord of the western lands to InuYasha after Rin is kidnapped, In order to save her he must first learn humility, for that he must be human. Sesshomaru, being a demon lord refuses to give up everything for the girl, however he agrees to take the place of a human during one of the bloodiest battles of all time. Bakamatsu.

I apologize, this first part is going to be rough no matter what because it's filler and back info.

**CHAPTER THREE- BECOMING HUMAN **

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He had suspected that when the dark miko spoke of InuYasha's irresponsibility that he would be forced to run the Western Lands in Sesshomaru's absence. He was unfortunately only to right, to his horror InuYasha was speaking to Jaken when he returned about his side of this ridiculous life lesson. His half brother looked about as thrilled as he was at this, and understood the gravity of the situation.

"There is no way in hell this is going to work," the half breed summed up after attending one meeting with his brother. Sesshomaru for once in his life agreed, politics and the young half demon did not belong in the same sentence let alone paragraph.

"It will have to suffice. Jaken will do his best to advise you, I suppose even that cowardly flea of father's might be able to help as well. If you manage to screw it up terribly I'll be surprised," Sesshomaru was walking towards his rooms, "the system runs itself occasionally you will have to make some decisions otherwise you won't have much to do. As a half breed you will be mocked, and people will try to take the power away from you. All you have to do is fight them and they will see you are qualified power wise to rule these lands during my absence." InuYasha scoffed behind him, he wasn't sure he wanted to do it at all.

"What if it's not power wise that's the problem?" InuYasha asked, "what if's something else?" Sesshomaru shook his head looking at his little brother like he was an idiot. Which in fact he was…

"If it has to do with a war talk to Jaken, Myoga, and that wench of yours. Jaken knows what I would do, the flea would know the worst and best places in the line as well as your enemies, and the girl would know how to encourage morale. There's not a whole lot besides meetings and decisions," Sesshomaru clarified, "If nothing else call that stupid wolf in. If you manage to break up my territory while I'm in this stupid miko's lesson about compassion know that the first thing I am going to do is dismember you. Or as you so eloquently put it so many moons ago, 'I'm going to slit your stomach, take out your guts, and put them in a bowl.' Sound familiar little brother?" InuYasha shrugged at him looking out a window in disinterest.

"It sounded better when I said it," the half breed muttered.

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It was early June when Sesshomaru returned to the village, he and a very necessary associate had been discussing what was to happen down to the detail. Himura okusan was very kind to him despite the fact he was in fact a demon, the farmer could careless seeing as he had more pressing matters like feeding their small family. Then there was the girl, she looked a lot like the mother only her hair was a pretty chestnut color instead of the flaming crimson red.

She was only three, and was absolutely mystified by Sesshomaru, more particularly his hair. Had he not been lounging in the trees out of her grasp he might have woken up to all sorts of hair braids and knots. Not to mention ribbons, egad how he despised ribbons anywhere near Rin's hands.

He did not have to wait long at the Himura household for the first born son. It was even more fortunate that Sesshomaru was there, because the poor child was still born. He moved the distraught parents out of the way and unsheathed Tenseiga, in a single sweep of the sword there were cries of impatience from the child. Himura okuusan was so relieved that she kissed Sesshomaru, her husband simply rested against a board in relief.

When all had settled down Sesshomaru and his advisor decided it was time for their part. The farmer was asleep from exaughstion, the mother and daughter where playing with the happy baby.

"Himura san, I'll need to see your son now. Hitaru here will bring him back inside when we are done," Sesshomaru was surprised how easily the mother handed her baby over to him considering he was a demon, "thank you again Himura san."

"No, it is I that should thank you again Sesshomaru sama. You've already saved Shinta's life just by being here," she smiled gratefully, "thank you Sesshomaru."The demon almost gagged at all the happy emotion directed his way, little Himura Noriko, was attached to his leg rubbing it like a cat demon against a back scratcher.

"It shouldn't take too long, have Noriko remain in the house though," Sesshomaru instructed, "the process looks frightening to children." Himura okuusan nodded, motioning for Noriko to come sit next to her. The little girl gladly did so.

When Sesshomaru and the infant stepped outside Hitaru looked positively shocked. While this was the first time a demon had done such a thing voluntarily with the permission of an infant's parents. The process for Sesshomaru to 'become human' was a lot like the formation of Naraku, with the exception of this case being that Sesshomaru, only fully reawakened within the boy would remain a full fledge Daiyoukai.

Sesshomaru did not possess the power of absorbing people like the miserable half breed Naraku, therefore he would be required to eat the child first. The thought made the demon's stomach roll, he respected these humans enough he did not seem them as food. Hitaru was actually a human priest, he came highly recommended after a tiresome search to ensure he did not turn the child into a future Onigumo.

"You'll have to swallow him whole Sesshomaru dono for this process to begin," the priest instructed. Sesshomaru hesitantly did as he was asked, strangely enough the infant did not cry or let out a chi of fear. "step into the circle here, and sit cross legged please." The daiyoukai sat in the middle of the pentagram seal and closed his eyes. "Concentrate on the child, and its ki. Now I want you to merge your ki with that ki." It took several tries for Sesshomaru to finally get the ki to respond to his, but when it did they blended seamlessly.

"Focus on the child, see yourself as the child," Hitaru instructed. Sesshomaru did as he was asked. He already knew that everything else came down to the priest's own abilities and keeping the ki merged. So long as Sesshomaru held their ki together the child would be fine and would be protected from being his lunch. After what seemed like hours Sesshomaru fell into darkness, he could only hope that everything had gone as he and the priest planned.

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Outside PoV- Himura Noh

When Sesshomaru's friend returned with only a small bundle she knew his plan had been successful. Hitaru handed her the small boy with a large shit eating grin on his face. Little Shinta was fast asleep and back in his mother's arms, she could not ask for more on after first seeing his little blue face almost six hours ago. He did however have some strange ink markings on his skin…

"The markings you see will fade in about three days time when Sesshomaru sama is fully absorbed by Shinta chan here," he said tickling the little infant, "you should know that anytime he feels truly in danger those markings will appear. It will not be dangerous for Shinta, but it most likely will be for whomever or whatever causes his dis-ease." Noh nodded, holding her little boy close.

"What happens to Sesshomaru sama now?" she asked in curiosity. The priest looked at her with a small smile.

"His soul is now merged with your son's, as he grows up he will gradually remember his life before now," Hitaru explained, "the markings you see there are for that. He shouldn't really start to remember anything until he's about fourteen or fifteen. I don't recommend telling him until then either."

"I understand," Noh replied graciously, "goodbye Hitaru san." She watched with a deep smile as the monk left. She could handle raising the infant up like nothing had happened, it wasn't like things weren't weird enough as is…

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**Crimson Choucho:** so that's all flying by the seat of my pants through that. If you have any questions leave them in a review for me and I'll answer as best as I can. Here's the name review for those of you who may need it.

**Himura, Noh**- This is going to be Kenshin/Shinta/Sesshomaru's mom

**Himura, Noriko- **The older sister that may or may not exist. Since I don't know if she does or not, she does in this story.

**Hitaru- **A priest that knows how to 'make' Sesshomaru human.

Random fact: Kenshin's birthday is June 20th, 1849


	4. The Early Years

**Lord of the Tattoos**

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Crossover: InuYasha and Rurouni Kenshin

Disclaimer: No money, no fame, and no glory to be made by these works. Only mystification at how complicated it is to be kind.

Okay so I just borrowed names from Samurai Warriors, and one from Fushigi Yugi for Kenshin's family's names. Shingen, Noh, and Noriko. The funny thing is Takeda Shingen is voiced by Hiko Seijiro in Samurai Warriors, and Noh hime is voiced by Takani Megumi's voice actor. Noriko actually is a girl in this for anyone who knows Fushigi Yugi.

Last time:

"What happens to Sesshomaru sama now?" she asked in curiosity.

"His soul is now merged with your son's, as he grows up he will gradually remember his life before now," Hitaru explained, "the markings you see there are for that. He shouldn't really start to remember anything until he's about fourteen or fifteen. I don't recommend telling him until then either."

"I understand," Noh replied graciously, "goodbye Hitaru san." She watched with a deep smile as the monk left. She could handle raising the infant up like nothing had happened, it wasn't like things weren't weird enough as is…

Chapter 4- the Early Years

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Noh watched Noriko play with her little brother, she was showing him how to braid flowers. Shinta smiled wide watching as she tried, and sometimes failed to connect the flowers. Noriko handed him some as the almost one year old made a laughing noise at her. She discovered sometime within the last few months anything shown to Shinta he was able to mimic and do instantly.

The child could plant seedlings much to the surprise of their father as soon as he could crawl. Himura Shingen was pleased when in the season following the plants that Shinta planted grew well, he allowed Noriko to continue showing him other useful things. Shinta as his first birthday arrived was able to walk around without getting himself into trouble.

Noh was happy to see her infant son so independent, but worried how well he'd blend in as human if the progress continued like that. Noriko wasn't jealous of her little brother, but other children were vicious when upset. Not all children were as accepting as Noriko. Noh, Shingen, and Noriko did their best to teach Shinta compassion. The boy was well liked enough, and over five years Shinta was quite the young gentleman. Despite the interference of nature.

InuYasha had stopped by once, he had given Noh a sword and a warning. It was in fact the night of the new moon when he had stopped by. Shinta was out and he spoke to Noh formally.

"Do you mind?" Noriko at nine years old asked, "even Shinta has more manners. You could knock first you know?"

"Why should I care if that bastard has more manners, I came here to drop this off not to chat with a little brat," the raven haired man shouted, "I'm glad he's finally out, I can't mask my chi so I had to wait for him to leave." Noh looked at him with a confused expression, then she recognized the strange manner of dress from Sesshomaru's old description.

"_If a strange brutish man clothed in pure red shows up calling himself InuYasha do not worry. He's a pest, but he won't harm you. If he stops by you'll need to listen to the news he brings. He is my younger half brother."_ Noh pulled Noriko away from the strange barefoot young man. He was clothed in red just like the daiyoukai described, and very rude. He however was not destroying anything, he looked human in fact.

"Are you InuYasha, Sesshomaru sama's younger brother?" Noh asked, the young man's eyes widened slightly and he nodded. "He thought to mention you before everything happened, did you have something to tell us?" Noh watched the young man take a sword from his side.

"I came to bring him the Tenseiga, I can't use the thing just like he figured," InuYasha spoke in an irritated tone, "the bastard. How is he anyways?" He looked around generally curious it seemed.

"Shinta has seemed very comfortable, but I don't know if that affects your brother or not…" Noh smiled, then started to cough lightly, "you'll have to forgive me, I'm feeling slightly under the weather…" InuYasha frowned, Noh noticed a sort of uneasiness in that look.

"I should go, he'll discover me and that won't be good at all," InuYasha excused himself. Noh was left trying to understand the strange young man, Shinta did not return home until the next morning as it was. He and Shingen had been visiting a neighboring village anyways, there was no reason to come home in the dark and draw out the bandits.

Shinta recognized the sword immediately, there was a soft smile on the five year old's face. He and Noriko spent the next day helping Shingen tend to the fields, Noh had not wanted them to see her ill. Her mouth had gone dry and she was having a hard time moving around without emptying the contents of her stomach. Shingen had noticed a certain dullness to her eyes, they agreed it was easier to keep the children in the field.

Noriko was the next to fall sick a few months later, Noh succumbed to the sickness and passed away just before Noriko's eleventh birthday. It took three months, but finally Shingen also fell ill to the same disease, it had been identified as Cholera. While they knew what it was that ailed them, they did not know at the time what caused the disease or spread it. Himura Shingen lived long enough to see his wife and daughter buried before him, and at the tender age of seven Himura Shinta was left an orphan.

The villagers were terrified of the small child that could be harboring the disease and sold him into slavery. The small child did not understand, and the sword Tenseiga was left in the village's holy shrine. It had been identified as the sword of the ruling Daiyoukai of the area, Sesshomaru's sword became famous while he himself faded to legend.

The last Himura felt a considerable amount of loneliness in the company of the slavers, but none of it covered up his unease. He knew that he would never suffer the same fate as his parents and dear elder sister, he could eat anything, he had in fact tried a poisonous mushroom once and much to the dismay of his parents, it had done nothing at all. He actually became sick from ingesting shellfish, but it was more like he didn't care for the texture then an actual sick feeling.

He was starting to notice things he had never seen or paid attention to. Himura Shinta did not fear the slavers so much as he pitied them, they reeked of fear and it made his nose burn. The three girls however seemed indifferent, they treated him no different than Noriko had. They came five months into his journey with the slavers, he had since terrified them all. The men had made the mistake of trying to take advantage of the small boy, at age seven however he was no weakling.

After working the fields with his father and Noriko for years Shinta was strong enough to fight back, making him no easy target. He had broken one of their arms during their last attempt and they had since given up on that notion. The girls had taken a liking to him and attempted to cheer him up on the endless walking trip. Then everything changed again… The red head caught the smell of blood in the air, he tried to warn them, he did! But Bandits have their ways of sneaking up on slave caravans…

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**Crimson Choucho:** And into the timeline of Samurai X we go... Hopefully I can slow some of this down now...


	5. Indian Moon

**Lord of the Tattoos**

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha nor Rurouni Kenshin which respectively belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Nobihiro Watsuki. Characters from both series will appear but as of chapter 4 I believe this will take place in the Rurouni Kenshin Universe.

Last Time:

Then everything changed again… The red head caught the smell of blood in the air, he tried to warn them, he did! But Bandits have their ways of sneaking up on slave caravans…

**Chapter 5- Indian Moon**

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He felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise, and his blood pressure skyrocket. The smell of blood while so familiar and alluring, it was so utterly disturbing to the seven year old. Especially when he could practically taste the coppery substance in his mouth, his stomach started to turn in on itself. His sensitive ears started to burn as he heard the footsteps that were trying to be silent as the night and swift as the wind. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could feel long buried instincts fighting to take control.

As they came out from the shadows Akane screamed, making his ears pound at the high pitched noise. So it had begun, the sword strikes of the bandits cut down the caravan leaders first, the slaves trying to run for their lives, but evidence of their fate causing them to stumble into the mud. They were cut down all the same, except for the women. Kasumi took up a sword attempting to defend the younger two and him. Sakura took his hand and ran, Akane was frozen where she stood, watching the bandits cut down Kasumi just as mercilessly as the men who had attempted to thwart them.

Shinta's blood boiled, his new friends were being slaughtered, he would protect them from these bandits. Even if he was only a child, he would do so on his honor. Sakura tripped, Shinta tugged her back up, he would not let them die like this. He could feel his face burn, his forehead itched like none other and his cheeks felt like someone had rubbed boiling acid over them.

He locked his jaw searching for a weapon as Sakura tried to lead him away from this fight. He saw the gleam of the sword and knocked her sideways as the strange sword flew their direction. It wasn't a katana, nor was it elegant like one, but it did possess power… He took the blade in hand pulling it from the ground, it tried to speak to him. Something forced its hand, it was silenced as the bandits approached them malice dripping erriely from their features. Sakura was tugging on his gi, but he stood his ground tightening his hand around the hilt.

It was so familiar, the feel of this blade and its awesome strength… Shinta raised it slowly, placing it directly in front of him blade running parallel to the ground. The first bandit snickered and came at him, swinging wildly and trying to cleave the child in half. Shinta sidestepped, taking the broadsword to parry off the blow. He whipped the blade around fast enough to snap the first bandit's blade.

As the second charged at him he raised the blade to the heavens, his eyes glowing amber as he dropped it down in front of him releasing the hidden malice of the blade.

"Souryuuha," Shinta breathed quietly. Arcs of blue lightening danced forth from the blade spraying forth over the bandits. The first one watched in silent horror as the blue lightening reduced his companions to dust. Shinta turned to him sword still sagging towards the ground from the last strike, Sakura realizing that she was in fact safer behind him was doe eyed as the bandit moved to strike again.

Shinta pulled the blade up to block his strike when the bandit was reduced to red hunks and mist before he could swing again. He dropped the sword as the white cloaked man approached, Sakura tugged at his back trying to tug him away from the strange man. His feet refused to move, he was pulled backwards into the mud looking up at the man who had slew the last of the bandits.

"That was impressive boy," the man spoke as he wiped the blood from his blade, "you have quite a bit of talent in swordsmanship, have you any interest in continuing in it?" The man loomed over the small red head, offering a hand to help them up. Sakura took the hand first and pulled him up with her. Shinta however could not look this man in the eye, he was too bothered by the fact that he had only managed to save one person…

"I don't deserve to be a swordsman… I could only save myself…" he maintained a steady eye line with the ground.

"Shinta… it's okay," Sakura put a hand on his shoulders, "you are a just a child right now, you can't be expected to protect everyone. The fact that you managed to save us was a miracle." She tried to get him to raise his head towards the stranger.

"All the more reason to take swordsmanship," the stranger bent his knees to be at Shinta's eye level, "so that the next time, if there is a next time, you can save all the people that you wish to save. If you learn swordsmanship from me I guarantee that next time it will not be an issue." Shinta raised his head, his once again light lilac eyes met the chocolate brown of the stranger's.

"I fear that you are wasting your time, I would not make a good swordsman," Shinta spoke softly, "I would try even to save the lives of the bandits…" The stranger chuckled lightly at him.

"Even if that is the case, you would become strong enough to deter people like those bandits," the stranger persuaded, "try your hand at it first boy. If you think that you cannot meet my standards then you can leave, if you believe in yourself at all you will do this." Shinta listened to the man's words, then looked at the sword that lay stuck in the earth between them.

"I will learn from you, if not for myself, then for the innocents I will encounter that will need my help," Shinta bowed. Sakura stood behind both of them smiling, this would be for the best…

* * *

**Crimson Choucho: **Kasumi, Akane, and Sakura are the names of the three girls that died in Samurai X: Trust to save Shinta/Kenshin. I have no idea what is going to happen since Sakura didn't die this time...


	6. That is not

**Lord of the Tattoos**

Crossover: InuYasha and Rurouni Kenshin

Prompt idea: Sesshomaru becomes Shinta/Kenshin Himura in order to learn what it means to be human. He does this to save the only person he ever showed kindness to, Rin.

Disclaimer: If I actually owned these I wouldn't be writing about them here... No profit, no gain, only amusement at Kenshin/Sesshomaru having to deal with Hiko Seijirou

_LAST TIME:_

"I fear that you are wasting your time, I would not make a good swordsman," Shinta spoke softly, "I would try even to save the lives of the bandits…" The stranger chuckled lightly at him.

"Even if that is the case, you would become strong enough to deter people like those bandits," the stranger persuaded, "try your hand at it first boy. If you think that you cannot meet my standards then you can leave, if you believe in yourself at all you will do this." Shinta listened to the man's words, then looked at the sword that lay stuck in the earth between them.

"I will learn from you, if not for myself then for the innocents I will encounter that will need my help," Shinta bowed. Sakura stood behind both of them smiling, this would be for the best…

Next up, comparing Swordsmanship to bowling. One should not write fanfiction while watching History Channel programs...

**Chapter Six- That is not…**

* * *

"No, not that foot, move your right foot forward when you do that technique," Swords-master Hiko Seijiro corrected, "Battoujitsu is a sword drawing technique, if you step forward with your left foot during it, you'll slice off your toes baka deshi!" Shinta frowned, he had heard this explanation many times…

"Shishou, it's not that I'm not listening, it is just difficult to switch which foot I am placing forward while practicing the sword draw…" the now teenaged red head looked down at his left foot with no small amount of animosity towards it. "It just seems to move forward every time I use my right arm. I use my left foot to stabilize myself it seems." Hiko looked less than pleased with this explanation… Which was further demonstrated when he unleashed his Battoujitsu on Shinta's target.

"Really Kenshin, I fail to see what is so difficult about starting with your right foot. Complete the motion six hundred times in a row correctly, if you mess up even once, start over again. Do you understand me Baka deshi?" the fairly annoyed swords-master commented. That's right his name was Kenshin now wasn't it? It had been for years, yet he knew that didn't really sum him up as a person. Shinta his master had claimed, was too soft for a swordsman.

But 'Heart of Sword' didn't really didn't suit the red headed teenager either… Soft breaths escaped him as he repeated his tasks again and again, slow movements leading up to fluid motions of an endless dance of death. He nodded to his mentor preparing himself for the exercise. He spent the first few hundred sets thinking about the kata, once his feet started to cooperate with what his brain was trying to tell them he started to drift off towards the past.

He thought about all of the people he had known who were taken from him, he missed Noriko… He also vaguely tried to remember why he could make lightening dance from a regular looking broadsword. Nothing came to mind, he couldn't get the sword to do that again either, but Sakura insisted that she had seen it too. Speaking of Sakura, he wondered what she was making for lunch…

* * *

"He has improved greatly in these last four years," Hiko commented from afar. The raven haired Sakura nodded, "I don't think he realizes quite how fast he draws that sword either. Not fast enough to create lightening as you described though. Did such a thing ever actually happen?" He pointed at the broadsword wrapped up in leather by his pottery bench. Sakura smoothed the creases in her fuchsia yukata, her head nodded slightly in answer to the swords-master's question.

"He did, whether you choose to believe it or not. I am surprised he could do such a thing without destroying us both in the process," Sakura answered stirring the stew. Secretly she was terrified of the power she had witnessed that night, but Kenshin himself was the only thing that saved her.

It wasn't his power, it was his kindness towards other beings. His words that night that had remained with her over the last four years during his training. He wasn't doing it for himself as he had said at the time, he didn't even believe he was worthy of (the near impossible to master) training of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. What he did was for the people, those that he had never even met, those he didn't know he would ever meet. He did it to ensure the future of the innocent. Yet…

The power and grace that slowly crept into his swords' form, the unquestionable strength of character. Himura Kenshin was bound to run into trouble someday following those beliefs, but whatever trouble he managed to get into that impossible to predict strength would save him and those around him. She wondered just how influential the teenage swordsman could be.

"That sword still bothers me," Hiko motioned to the sword sitting on his pottery bench. Wrapped in leather it still released an aura of energy that could frighten off most oblivious of creatures, save for his own resident baka deshi.

"You're not the only one it bothers," Sakura shuttered at the thought, "it almost possessed you that one time, that was enough to scare me." Hiko frowned, the first and only time he had tried to move the sword it had tried to influence his decisions of who he killed and why. When the boy approached and simply touched the weapon he suddenly felt a profound amount of weight ease from his shoulders. It undoubtedly had accepted the brat and no one else.

"I doubt that came with those bandits, there's a greater likelihood that he summoned the thing in desperation," Hiko watched as Kenshin slipped into a trance of katas, "he doesn't realize how powerful he is, our last spar was proof of that." He rubbed the small of his back where a giant bruise had blossomed thanks to a truly awful landing.

"The funny part being whenever those marks occur he doesn't really remember anything, but if it's just those chilling eyes…" the girl was watching the boy move through the Battoujitsu katas this time, "I wonder what causes those marks to appear." She regretted the statement as soon as she made it. Over four years they had learned a lot about Himura Kenshin and the mysterious things that happened when the boy was strangely volatile or threatened.

"Stress in particular seems to play a key role," Hiko observed. Kenshin swore lightly as he stepped with the wrong foot when he was nearing the end of his target amount, "I would also say how much danger is involved also is a factor in it…" The katas seemed to bore the red head, but he continued in practicing the sword draw.

"You shouldn't have stressed him out like that, he could have killed you then you realize," she turned crossing her arms at the tall swordsman, "whatever that is he keeps triggering… It can't be good for him." Hiko shrugged his shoulders, in truth it concerned him as well, but there was nothing he could do about the brat's panic reflex besides push it back further.

"The only way to prevent it from appearing, is to push him further, he will have to rely on himself more than whatever it is that is triggered by the combination of stress and danger," Hiko explained clearly, "if you don't believe me, then it is your loss not his. He will only grow stronger by matching against those stronger than him. At the rate he's going he'll have to become a left-handed swordsman in order to find a decent challenge…" The Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu master mused. The red head dropped backwards, Sakura let out a soft snicker as the boy started to snore.

"If you don't wear him out first," the young woman laughed.

* * *

**Crimson Choucho: **What is a Kata? For that matter why is Sakura still around... *hums to self* She must be Terminated! FWAH HAH HA! *Runs away like a mad woman to figure out new plot sequence.* On a more serious note I really shouldn't watch things about the Kennedy's while I type these things.


	7. E is equal to MC squared

**Lord of the Tattoos**

Crossover: InuYasha and Rurouni Kenshin

Prompt idea: Sesshomaru becomes Shinta/Kenshin Himura in order to learn what it means to be human. He does this to save the only person he ever showed kindness to, Rin.

Disclaimer: If I actually owned these I wouldn't be writing about them here... No profit, no gain, only amusement at Kenshin/Sesshomaru having to deal with Hiko Seijirou. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Pouf, who has delighted me with her messages, and Laelruin for their reviews.

_LAST TIME:_

"whatever that is he keeps triggering… It can't be good for him." Hiko shrugged his shoulders, in truth it concerned him as well, but there was nothing he could do about the brat's panic reflex besides push it back further.

"The only way to prevent it from appearing, is to push him further, he will have to rely on himself more than whatever it is that is triggered by the combination of stress and danger," Hiko explained clearly, "if you don't believe me, then it is your loss not his. He will only grow stronger by matching against those stronger than him. At the rate he's going he'll have to become a left-handed swordsman in order to find a decent challenge…"

**Chapter 7- E=mc^2**

* * *

Kenshin sat looking down from the top of the waterfall with the broadsword in hand, Hiko had instructed him to try his hand at camping alone. Sure enough it was easier than he had been led to believe, it was as if he had done this millions of times before. He ran into few issues, bandits were dealt with, running away screaming something about demonic red heads. He had to fight very hard to keep the smile off his face.

It was cold at night, so instead of taking care of the essentials and katas during the day he practiced these at night. Maintaining a constant body temperature was essential to him successfully camping, at least that's he had decided on his own. The small swordsman still wondered why he was more at ease alone than he had been in several years, he sighed looking at the cooking fish before him.

He didn't understand why Shishou had called it a punishment. It certainly wasn't his fault if the master had tripped over his own white mantle and broke his nose. Although laughing so hard he couldn't breathe might have been why he had been sentenced to sleep out here for an undefined number of nights… He sighed when the first drops of rain hit his hands as he twisted the fish out of the fire.

Even if the rest of his night was going to be terrible there was no reason to waste a perfectly good dinner by letting go cold again. The drops were reminiscent of needles, cold enough to leave a tingling sensation behind as they rolled off his rapidly cooling skin. Nightfall with restricted movement, no campfire, improvised and yet not nearly adequate shelter, what a night this was turning out to be.

"Is there a reason why you've got such a downcast look on your face Kenshin?" the light voice shocked him out of his sudden revelation. Sakura's barely visible smile warmed some of the sting of the rain as she stood there umbrella in hand, "rain is not always a spiritual equivalent of tears." She worked her way to stand under the tree besides him, Sakura had her hair pulled back in a braid tonight.

"Sometimes those tears are of happiness and not sorrow though," he commented looking at the fish in his hands, "Is master still upset at me for laughing at him?" She leaned back against the tree closing the umbrella. He scooted closer to her legs, hoping to keep a little warmer in the meantime.

"You know him as well as I do, he's sulking because he can't drink his Sake until it heals more," she must have been smirking above him, but he couldn't see it. The clouds had long since covered up the moon as they released their burdens upon the earth in soft waves. "After all, alcohol tends to water down the blood stream making it difficult for wounds to clot. Makes a great disinfectant I'm told." Kenshin smiled, he wondered when Sakura would go into the medical field.

"Why don't you become a doctor Sakura san? You're already so knowledgeable in the medical field," Kenshin had to raise his voice ever so slightly to be heard above the rain, "there are families that are known for the medical practices, perhaps they could teach you the remainder of the skills a doctor would require." She nudged the swordsman softly, he laughed understanding it for what it was.

"The great Takani family of Aizu would be the most sufficient, but how would I get to Aizu to ask for such an honor? Kenshin do you realize the length of that trip and how dangerous it would be for me to transverse it alone?" Sakura seemed tired from that statement, "perhaps if you accompanied me there I would make it there safely. There always remains the chance that they won't accept me as an apprentice."

"You won't know until you ask them though Sakura san," Kenshin smiled hopefully, "perhaps Shishou and I could take you. He probably wouldn't refuse outright, you might be able to bribe him with Sake later." She smiled laying a hand on his shoulder, her eyes searching the drenched area before them for something of interest.

"Perhaps, did you make a shelter for tonight yet?" she asked. Kenshin shook his head, he stood up passing her the fish. It was amusing to picture the master taking a trip, nose bandages in all, to a land such as Aizu. He burst out laughing gaining a nudge into the rain from Sakura. "I don't know what you're laughing about, you're the one who's going to have to put up with him. Which means you are going to have to learn to cook."

"That, is not promising," Kenshin frowned taking a bite out of his fish, which was still mostly raw, "Shishou and I have somewhat of a different standard for the word 'cooked'… While I realize that, he likes his food brunt Sakura san, burnt. He expects me to eat it the same way! I can't eat food that done, it makes me sick, and I can barely eat things this way. I've contemplated leaving it uncooked to see if it's any better…"

"You'll just have to learn how to cook for Hiko san then. If you cook well enough for him then maybe he'll let you eat yours however you eat it," Sakura said cheekily. Kenshin laughed dryly, he couldn't cook anything to the point where it was no longer bleeding without choking on it. How was he supposed to manage making a cannonball out of something that could once be considered edible?

"I can only hope I don't die of starvation during your absence Sakura san," Kenshin took another bite, looking at her with a soft smile of sharp teeth.

"Don't kid yourself Kenshin, it would take more than a lack of food to kill you," Sakura retorted looking at the fish in her hand, "I sincerely doubt anything short of an army sized ambush would bring you or Hiko san down at this point." Kenshin had to smile at that, he doubted even that would keep him down long, especially if he could get that sword to work again. Not that he would needlessly slaughter that many people, but he would make one hell of a fireworks show to escape through with his life.

* * *

**Crimson Choucho:** well... I didn't really intend for that... but I guess Firework comments this close to the fourth of July are allowed in moderation. My apologies for any errors, just leave me a note and I'll fix them as I can. 

Well see if I can't get another chapter of this written up before my birthday.**  
**


	8. Burn it to the Ground

**Lord of the Tattoos**

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha nor Rurouni Kenshin which respectively belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Nobihiro Watsuki. Characters from both series will appear but as of chapter 4 we are staying in the Rurouni Kenshin 'verse for the most part.

**CrimsonChoucho a/n**: I will be using some historical references, but as I am an idiot at times I remember events and forget the dates (in this case length of the conflict and what year it transpired in), so Aizu now has an additional conflict… Gomen yo. Seeing as Kenshin knows about the coming of the black ships which starts in 1844 and is not resolved until 1858, but the event in particular he references is in 1853, making Kenshin himself only 3 years old according to the sources I have found… Anyways I am going to assume he learns these things through traveling to the different areas of Japan. Alas I am not sticking to all historical battles because I cannot keep a straight timeline. My apologies in advance for that.

**Chapter 8- Burn it to the Ground**

* * *

Hiko had outright refused to travel to Aizu with the baka deshi and Sakura. He thought it would make a great test of his apprentice's talents, the only thing was he had an awful sense of direction. He wondered if those two would even make it to Aizu… He stoked the fire of the pottery kiln, thinking on the occurrences of the past few years.

He had to admit, the baka deshi encouraged a strange crowd to come by, and they were by no means human. It had taken a few methods of trial and error to disperse the crowds enough to put the boy at a state of semi ease. Not that Hiko blamed him for not wanting to sleep with demons nearby, but within ten miles? The range on his chi was ludicrous, if was even his chi that allowed him to know they were there.

Sakura had made the most interesting perception, the baka deshi's nose was far more sensitive than possible. There were times Hiko wondered if it was humanly possible to detect the faint traces of things in the air that the kid claimed he could smell. Blood was one thing, but being able to tell the difference between different types of dirt? Ridiculous, that and being able to tell the difference between different bodies of water, impossible… Well for most people, shockingly enough the kid could identify these things.

His stomach processed things that made Hiko wonder if he had bothered to even kill the things before he ate them at times, the only real conformation of this was the lack of fur on the small mammals. The swords master had seen him devour poisonous mushrooms, frogs, and spiders, though the spiders were mostly by accident. A couple of snakebites later and he was assured the Himura Kenshin, his very own resident baka deshi was immune to all things poisonous.

The oddities of his fiery haired apprentice did not end there, along with a curious immune system and oddly powerful sense of smell came an aversion to water. He was fine around it, he did not however enjoy being in it. It sent the gold eyes to the forefront every time he was dunked into the glossy liquid surface. On the rare occasion it also resulted in Hiko acquiring some interesting sparring with tattooed version of his apprentice. He never failed to end those with less than four unsightly bruises.

He poked at the fire again, he wondered how long it would take the baka to find his way back. He really disliked having to do all the errands himself in addition to the cooking. That and he missed being able to beat on… or rather, err, train his baka deshi. He prayed to the Kami that he returned before too long.

* * *

Kenshin was appreciative of Sakura's wise choice to not comment on his utter social awkwardness, but the sly looking smirks his direction weren't entirely necessary. It had taken a while, but they had gathered the general direction of Aizu from less than willing pursuers. Soundly beaten in battle they given over quite useful information, but the red head was uneasy as they neared the province.

He could smell smoke, blood, and death, he was not about to tell this to Sakura who seemed utterly at peace and happy throughout the journey thus far. There was no reason to make her uneasy when he could handle any situation that presented itself, not that he wanted to meet whatever had done that to the province. Their two guides were released as he caught the fresh smell of smoke and were influenced to never show their faces to him again.

"Sakura san…" Kenshin started readying his weapon, "I don't think Aizu will be that helpful anymore…" Sakura frowned, she gathered herself up and followed him to look over the hill that lead into Aizu. Sure enough parts of the city were smoldering, and the clashing of swords could be heard easily by the trained ear.

"This is horrible, Kenshin we have got to do something to help! Surely you realize that, we need to find the Takani family," she instructed. While he didn't approve he couldn't just leave the innocents there to die. He kept one hand on the broadsword, as they worked their way into the war torn city. Sakura led him deep into the heart of the city, her eyes watery from all the smoke in the air. Kenshin dare not use his swords to clear it and draw attention to them…

"Stay down," he hissed as an arrow whished his ear. The poison dipped arrowhead just about made him gag, "we have company, and not the friendly sort." He drew the broadsword, hoping with all his might he didn't have to level anything with it to get to the archers. It took a moment for him to find their location seeing as they were downwind and overly cautious. It took following the trajectory of the arrows to give their position away.

He ended up scaling up several buildings, whacking the arrows aside with the odd blade. It wasn't as if they'd actually kill him, but he preferred to avoid being hit by arrows. They were unpleasant to remove, especially from tender areas. He had to force his fingers into some narrow crevices in the stonework, but when he sliced the bows in half it was worth the look of shock crossing their faces.

"What is going on here, I thought this was a town of doctors?" he asked, keeping the sword in a semi unthreatening manner, "also, where might I find the Takani family?" The archers were looking at him bewildered, and then started babbling incoherently. He sighed, this certainly was unhelpful, "one at a time please."

"The Takani family should be closer to the castle wards, they might be left unscathed at this point. This is actually a town of soldiers not doctors," the first one answered, albeit a little jittery still. He nodded signaling the next one to speak, one swallow and a lot of fidgeting later he had quite a tale on his hands.

"The youkai of the region have gone berserk, usually then are handled by their lord, currently however there is a rebellion of some sort taking place," the archer looked down at his bow with a displeased expression, "it seems that daiyoukai of the eastern and western domains do not agree on something. Could I ask you something?"

Kenshin's head was already wheeling, he knew a bit about the separation of human and youkai affairs. This information did not bode well with what he did know, and somewhere deep down he felt extreme anger for some reason he could not explain. "You can ask, but I may not know the answer." The archers nodded, they bowed at his feet making him uneasy and uncomfortable, and the angry part was disgusted.

"Could you escort us back to the armory? Without our bows we are defenseless, we hadn't intended on attacking a non-hostile stranger, its just with demons you never know how that are going to show up," the archers begged. Kenshin sighed sheathing the sword, he wasn't sure what these gut feelings were coming from, but they were foreign to him and unwarranted, "please?"

"I know this only too well, how long will it take you to descend the building?" he asked calmly, it would do him no good to refuse their request. He was in this to save innocents, not create un-necessary casualties.

"A few minutes," one responded, "you can use the stairs this time if you'd like." Kenshin shook his head, he didn't like stairs, they isolated you and were entirely too easy to be surrounded in.

"I'll pass on that, I will meet you at the bottom soon enough," Kenshin jumped down, sliding down the clay roof tiles with relative ease. He still had to get back to Sakura, and he needed to know more about this stupid youkai conflict. Kenshin blinked freezing as he landed, now where had that thought come from? He may have despised conflicts, but that reaction of irritation wasn't from him. He shook it off, continuing on his way.

Sakura made her way towards him, visually relieved to be back in his presence. He lead her back to the makeshift guard tower where the helpless archers were waiting. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened this time, except that they were now getting a guide to the Aizu stronghold.

Kenshin himself said nothing, he wanted to know why the Western lands was at conflict. There should have been no reason for this… The red head was fighting off a killer headache from two opposing forces in his mind.

_What has that idiot Hanryu done this time?_ The voice in his head was irritated, and cold. It must have been the one with the foreign emotions breaching his thoughts. It wasn't long to the stronghold of Aizu, which consisted of the outer wards of the castle. Sakura was welcomed with open arms, Kenshin however found himself being isolated from the main group. He found however he was more comfortable with that then being surrounded with men who smelled like they hadn't bathed in a week at least. He then approached Sakura, keeping an eye for any would be assailants amongst the group.

"This seems to be where are paths part, good luck persuading the Takani family Sakura san," Kenshin bowed and as he was turning to leave she grabbed the back of his gi. "Yes?" He asked uncertainly, wondering why he had been stopped at all.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked, she knew he would not stay, "will you put this town to peace before you go? Or will you leave them to their fate?" Kenshin sighed, he really didn't want to be here, and he really didn't want to test his abilities off against such creatures…

"I guess there's really only one thing to do…" Kenshin sighed, he turned to the residents of the Aizu province with a schooled expression, "give what information you have on these Youkai and I will do my best to resolve the issue." There went a high cheer up in the air, and several looks of speculation at whether or not it was possible for him to do anything about it.

He was sent on his way in short order with a long line of descriptions, complaints, and requests. That voice from earlier was grumbling, but in the pits of his being something was rejoicing. He approached the forest and realized while he knew what he needed to accomplish he had absolutely no idea of how to get to these creatures.

_Call for Jaken, he will assist you. He might grumble a bit, but if you show him the Tokijin, he will comply without further complaint,_ the voice explained casually. Kenshin vaguely wondered what the Tokijin was, then realized that was the name of the broadsword. Some part of him felt fear, but more cautious than fear. It was remarkable how it wasn't the demons he was afraid of, it was how well matched he was going to be against them.

"Jaken?" he muttered aloud testing the name, it seemed vaguely familiar on his tongue. Sure enough a weird toad imp creature appeared before him, looking as confused as he himself did. "Would you be Jaken?" The imp nodded, then looked suspicious.

"What utter chaos the world is in, first Sesshomaru sama disappears then the Lord of the Eastern Lands declares war against InuYasha, and now I've been summoned to a human… What is the world coming to?" the imp shook his head. Kenshin watched the fairly vocal rant with discrete interest, he wondered what all this meant to him. "So human, why have you called me?"

"I require assistance, and I was told to ask for you. I was told showing you something called the 'Tokijin' would be enough to explain why," Kenshin answered, "but I am unsure if I possess this 'Tokijin', as I was not told what it was." The imp looked at him seriously, then looked to the swords at his hilt, approaching uneasily.

"The Tokijin is Sesshomaru sama's sword, would you mind drawing that blade at your waist?" the imp instructed. Kenshin nodded, drawing the broadsword casually and watching the imp's yellow eyes widen impossibly, "if you would stick that in the ground and step back a couple of feet, yes like that." Kenshin wondered why he needed to release the sword when he felt the ominous aura drift from the blade. The imp's mouth fell open, it was an interesting sight to see a shell-shocked demon, but there wasn't time to allow it for long.

"Will you assist me then?" he asked taking hold of the Tokijin again, sheathing the sword once again. The little imp nodded, "I wish to quell the demons that are disturbing this area. I require a way to deal with that issue, I do not care whether it means talking to them or slaying them unconditionally." The little imp nodded, he must have had something in mind then.

"If it is you, I believe a simple demonstration of strength and punishment should do the trick milord. I will set up the circumstances for you," the imp bowed and Kenshin felt his uneasiness return again, "do you require any other assistance from me?" Kenshin shook his head, and the little imp hopped up with a smile, "I will approach you when it is ready. Will you remain in Aizu during this time?" Kenshin nodded again, and watched the little demon disappear in a wisp of flames.

_Do not expect much help from me child, you are the one delegating this situation. Jaken knows this as well, if you fail Aizu will fall victim to that which you are seeking to protect it from. Do you understand child?_ Kenshin wondered whose voice that was that kept speaking to him so coldly, he did know that it wasn't lying to him. Whoever it was did not want to be any more involved than he did. "I understand, but who are you?" There was a quiet bit of amusement.

_I am Sesshomaru, Daiyoukai of the Western lands. This is your chance to live human Shinta, do not waste it._ Kenshin wasn't sure what to think of that, he had a royal demon speaking to him in his head, was he crazy or something? He sincerely hoped not, or this would be a truly short venture.

* * *

**Crimson Choucho: **I'm working on revamping those first chapters, I wanted them done more than I wanted them written well. I'll leave a note when I replace them finally, but the overall concept remains the same. This is about Sesshomaru and Kenshin being the same person. I am only going to rewrite the first three probably. They bug me...** Chapter 1 replaced 7/2/11.** It's two and three are still the same for now.**  
**


	9. Eyes in the Dark

**Lord of the Tattoos**

Crossover between: InuYasha and Rurouni Kenshin

_Last time in Lord of the Tattoos:_

Kenshin wondered whose voice that was that kept speaking to him so coldly, he did know that it wasn't lying to him. Whoever it was did not want to be any more involved than he did. "I understand, but who are you?" There was a quiet bit of amusement.

_I am Sesshomaru, Daiyoukai of the Western lands. This is your chance to live human Shinta, do not waste it._ Kenshin wasn't sure what to think of that, he had a royal demon speaking to him in his head, was he crazy or something? He sincerely hoped not, or this would be a truly short venture.

Chapter 9- Eyes in the Dark

* * *

When Kenshin returned to the Aizu stronghold he found only Sakura was glad to see him back so soon. Not that it surprised him, but still... It would have been nice to get some respect for going out to save their hides. He ended up sleeping out on the roof near a ballista, seeing as the amount of negative energy inside the main area was enough to make him nauseous. It came to no surprise to him when Sakura showed up at dawn to wake him.

"So… how did things go?" she asked sitting down beside him. Kenshin looked at her bleary eyed, he still hadn't ended up getting much sleep. That was the thing with playing the hero, you lost more than you gained a lot of the time. In this case he had slept scant few hours with all the glaring and hostility circling in the place.

"Things will be settled soon," he yawned, "there is a toad demon arranging for everything. Unfortunately it seems that I will be fated to fight off all those creatures one by one." He stretched out, looking over at her worried expression. He didn't see any reason to be worried, he just needed to keep on his toes. He was a student of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, his training was all about being out numbered, he just had to worry about being out classed skill wise before he could sufficiently cut down their numbers.

"Are you sure you can do that all by yourself Kenshin?" Sakura asked hesitantly. The redhead frowned, it wasn't that he couldn't do it. He didn't want to be involved in this whole setup, but he did say he would help…

"Things will happen the way they do, Master would be displeased if I died here. He would have to train another pupil," Kenshin thought aloud, "they would never survive… Master is a bit of a slave driver." He smiled standing easily, well despite all his protesting sleepy limbs.

"That's a bit harsh," she smiled back, looking down to the entrance to Aizu stronghold, "that's not good… Kenshin, is that the Mibu?" Sakura pointed down to where she was looking, Kenshin agrees silently. Seeing all of them, and smelling them from up here was not something he ever wanted. So what was he waiting for, the Mibu could rescue the town! He wouldn't have to do anything then. However, that wasn't what Hiko would have done or Sesshomaru. The Daiyoukai didn't have to say anything for Kenshin to know he disapproved, but Hiko sensei was just enough of a loner he had no idea what he would have done in this situation...

"Sakura, meet me at the keep doors," he announced quickly before sliding down the roof tiles. The slide down took longer than he was expecting, but he still was worried. He'd been trained by Hiko, the most socially awkward human being alive, his social skills would leave something to be desired. It would be nothing short of a miracle if Kenshin could prevent a fight between him and its members long enough to find out their goals. His social skills were observation, quick wit, and a silver tongue with a lack of tact, none of these would be useful for diplomacy.

He leapt up into the air, watching the scene cautiously, keeping his chi masked as he descended quickly down onto the tavern near the base of the castle keep. The smell of booze, smoke, and all manner of things brunt has his nose protesting rather loudly. Jolts of pain flashing as his feet weren't spread just right as he landed, quickly turning it into a rolling landing to avoid further discomfort. The scent of the different wolves of Mibu jarred him back into further movement, they had efficiently swept the area so far. He could only wonder how bad this was going to look when he was discovered. He caught the main branch of them a few blocks from the tavern he had rolled off of. The squad captain was tall lanky man with the strongest chi of the group, he was the only one attempting to mask his Chi as well. Unfortunately for him said lanky man spotted him first, and when he was pressed up into the shadows observing no less... This was bad... with a capital B.

The captain was giving him an impressive death glare, not nearly as terrifying as Hiko sensei's. He had the feeling that things were only going to get much worse at this point. He was only too right...

"Boy," the growl startled him, "where are the villagers? Did you eat them?" Kenshin imagined that the eyes he was staring into probably mirrored how his own appeared when he was upset. Dark frozen gold, cruel and shiver inspiring, with an impassive face to boot. Being on the receiving end of such a stare, for there was not enough emotion present for it to be a glare, was slightly unnerving.

"I don't eat humans," Kenshin decided upon answering first, "nor will I ever consider the idea. I am almost insulted that you would ask such a thing. The people you are looking for are hiding in the Aizu castle keep, if that's what you were trying to ask." The Mibu wolf frowned at him, but lowered the sword had pointing in Kenshin's direction. "Care to explain why the government has allowed the city to be overflowing with low class demons?" The wolf raised an eyebrow his direction. So he had taken that as the insult that was implied in turn for the cannibalism remark, Kenshin had to resist the smirk at his expression.

"What would you know of it? We only just found out about it," the man towered over Kenshin, he was closing in on 6' 5" if the little swordsman had to guess.

"Captain, there's no one around in town. We have been unable to locate anyone," the newcomer spoke quickly. He was shocked when he laid eyes upon Kenshin speaking with the captain. The Mibu captain looked from the red head to the other man. His irritation wasn't lost on Kenshin as the man cowered in the presence of the captain's stare.

"Have you checked the castle's keep yet?" the Mibu captain asked. The other man frowned, he shook his head, "I would advise you check there next. That's where this kid says they are."

"It might be better if I came with you or notified them first. They tried to shoot at me when I first arrived," Kenshin explained, the captain shook his head. It was Kenshin's turn to be confused, "is there a reason why you want to surprise a bunch of frightened and armed civilians?"

"How do we know you aren't trying to set us up? You'll remain with us until we decide to go to the keep," the captain informed him before turning to his subordinate, "gather up the rest of the unit. We leave for the keep immediately." Kenshin couldn't decide if he disliked this man or not. The man's temperament clashed with his own, and he would dare say that the older man, about 28ish at max, was the type that liked to push people's buttons. He would also guess that this man was sly and cunning as a Fox demon, with the proper time he could probably infiltrate any organization as well. That still left him undecided on an emotion, after watching him interact with his unit, he made up his mind.

He settled on a frown, he had no idea when Jaken would show up, and he was under the impression that these men would most assuredly take the wrong idea from the toad's sudden appearance to council with him. He wondered if he should just consider slipping away at some point, because he certainly wasn't doing anyone any favors remaining with the Mibu Wolves. He could feel the various levels of Chi fluctuating around him, the majority weren't even close to his own. The exception was the captain's, the Mibu captain's chi was masked, but it was there.

"I hope you aren't intending to fight them with Chi levels like that," Kenshin spoke up, "the little ones I have run into would probably give most of these men a hard time." He was trying to be considerate, but with most things people didn't take kindly to being told that a child his size could do something better than them. Especially something like swordsmanship.

"You and I need to have a little talk boy. Okita, keep an eye on things," the captain pulled him off to a side alley where they were less likely to be overheard, "I don't care who you think you are brat, your statements are ruining the morale of my men. Keep up such talk and I may be forced to cut out your tongue." That last bit was hissed. Kenshin attempted to show fear at the idea but failed miserably. He doubted the Daiyoukai would allow that anything so insulting to happen. Sesshomaru, while not very talkative, would only appear when his life was in danger that he couldn't handle. The demon seemed too proud to allow such a thing.

"I wouldn't advise trying that," Kenshin mumbled, "how did you receive word of Aizu's condition?" He was curious to see what the man would tell him.

"That is none of your concern, what I want to know is what a child trained in swordsmanship is doing in a town like this alone. I know you are not native to Aizu," the captain stated blatantly. Kenshin rolled his eyes, mind games like this hadn't worked on him in years. So telling him he wasn't native to Aizu was more like a well duh than some big surprise. After all, how often does one come across red hair in Japan? He could sniff out a lie just as easily as he could see through the mind games. It was poking just right to get the small easily discernible truths out of other people that was annoying.

"I did not come alone," Kenshin answered, "it is improper to bring a woman out into conflicts like these all alone, wouldn't you agree?" He resisted the urge to pull the Tokijin forth and throw it at the man threatening him. "I was guiding someone here when we happened upon the situation, she is currently waiting for me at the castle." He soundly put it to rest stating that it would cause more trouble than he needed.

"That I would agree with, your mother or a whore?" the man asked. Kenshin revised his opinion, he would rather be stuck in a castle full of hostile demons then next to this man. _That can be arranged at the rate this is going. Keep your eyes peeled._ Kenshin had to fight not to laugh, it seemed Sesshomaru agreed with him. The man must certainly be disagreeable then, to get a remark out of the Daiyoukai… Soon enough Kenshin noticed the little imp out of the corner of his eye, he looked extremely nervous, but not enough for what was about to take place.

"Hey jackass," the voice that came from behind the imp startled him, seeing as they were upwind of the two Kenshin could not smell the person either. The Chi however should have given him away, the man's Chi was wild and way above the captain's level. Something about that bothered Kenshin, it was the warning from the Daiyoukai…

'Sesshomaru… who, is that?' Kenshin asked as the silver haired man walked in front of Jaken slowly, hiding him from view. There was a helm on his head that seemed out of place, what with the fact he wasn't even wearing shoes… _That is my idiot brother… kindly use your Battoujitsu on him at will. He's destroyed my lands in the last fourteen years the little incompetent whelp. On second thought, let me…_ Kenshin never knew what happened…

* * *

(Jaken's PoV)

"Moron," the cold voice stopped Inuyasha dead in his tracks, Jaken on the other hand smiled. The red head unsheathed the Tokijin sitting at his waist, the man beside him drawing his sword, but he was pointing it at the child. "You always were useless. Jaken, is this kid's little skirmish ready then?" The bangs covering his face were long enough to cover any markings that might appear there, and the sword armlets covered the only other ones that might have given him away. The imp found his blood pressure rise as watched the display before him, and wished he could do something to help his lord.

"Sesshomaru," the hanyou breathed silently, the child looked up. There was no doubt who's eyes were staring back, "I thought…" He watched the cold eyes of the Daiyoukai glance around bored, and then there was the energy crackle around the Tokijin as it charged. Jaken sidestepped and walked towards the emotionless redhead. He had no doubt where his loyalties lay.

"You thought wrong hanyou," was the cold response, "and now he's going to clean up your mess. I suggest you leave him alone, or I'll take a page from the wolf hanyou there and cut out your tongue." Inuyasha looked at the man who was staring at them, the wolf looked disturbed. It appeared that the wolf hanyo had no clue as to what they were talking about. Perhaps he didn't know he was a half breed? Or was it that Sesshomaru had identified what he was? Or even more strange yet, maybe this wolf knew who Sesshomaru was… really? The only likely option was that he couldn't figure out how they knew what he was.

"What is so disturbing wolf?" Inuyasha asked with no small amount of irritation. As Jaken had already identified early on when he met Sesshomaru, both brothers didn't seem to believe in the word tact, or even be aware that such a thing existed. Not that he cared, it was easier to understand that way.

"Most people don't see pathetic hanyou walking around nor children possessed by demons willingly, or messengers of death moron," Sesshomaru of course gathered the man's attention quickly with that comment, "well, what is so important that you would risk showing your face here Moron." Perhaps a lack of tact was hereditary, judging from Sesshomaru's own lack of it. Of course, he knew Sesshomaru didn't give a rat's ass about anyone else in the first place, so that was probably his reason for not using it.

"Don't call me a moron you jackass," Inuyasha growled, "Jaken failed to mention it was you gathering up all the demons. I was checking that it wasn't another Naraku situation, or was I wrong to check things out for myself this time?" Sesshomaru rolled his eyes, the man standing behind them choose then to speak.

"I knew it, you did have something to do with those demons!" the wolf hanyou growled unsheathing his sword. Jaken far from worried, the man didn't stand a chance in hell. His lord and his idiot younger brother were stronger than any creature that lingered in these parts. Sesshomaru chose that moment to let a frown on his features, Inuyasha cringed. Jaken wondered how the idiot had somehow managed to screw up now...

"Nice going moron," Sesshomaru growled out, he turned to face both of them. Jaken was already at his master's side, "you will sheath that sword or I will let Jaken turn you into hanyou bacon. Moron, go home and do some damage control there. Himura will handle Aizu, and you will owe him one. I have enough to deal with here without you creating a bigger mess." Inuyasha raised his hands watching the ensuing madness unfold just as Jaken was, both were certain that Sesshomaru had the matter under control.

* * *

Saitou watched the two interact, the hair on the back of his neck standing up from the raw Chi flowing off the younger, for the redhead could only be housing an older, demon. He was intrigued by their conversation at first, who wouldn't be when one is identified as Jackass and the other as Moron? There was no lost love there…The one with the wild Chi went back the way he came ignoring him completely, that left the red head who was staring at him.

"Why possess a child, he said earlier you didn't eat the civilians," Saitou sought to clarify this matter, the expression covering the kid's face was utterly blank. He still held the foreign sword in hand, and the energy around it was startling. It was higher than that of his own if his senses weren't failing him, the idea was a bit shocking at first. If he hadn't heard it from the child's own mouth that he was possessed he would have been extremely concerned. The child already seemed to know this when he wasn't acting so abnormal as well.

"I do not eat human food nor do I eat humans," the golden eyes staring back at him with the toneless voice sent a shiver down his spine, "so neither does Himura. I will not explain my actions to you, they will speak for themselves, and I will not hesitate to kill you if you interfere with my plans. Neither will Himura if he finds you as annoying as I am." His eyes turned straight to amethyst, there was no light in them for a moment. The child fell to the ground without any warning. He looked at the little toad, he was just as baffled.

* * *

"Ugh… what happened?" the voice was almost warm, they were no long speaking to the then demon evidently, "What did Sesshomaru do?" He looked around, seeing no destruction or threats coming towards his person he relaxed. The sword in his hand made him a bit nervous, why was he holding a fully charged (if the Chi flashing around the sword was any indication) demon tainted sword. "Who decided to piss him off?"

"Sesshomaru sama was responding to the wolf hanyou there," Jaken answered, "what would you like me to refer to you as?" The red head slipped the overcharged blade back into his belt, drawing the other easily.

"Himura," the kid answered easily, "and if you made Sesshomaru amused enough to charge the Tokijin, you pissed him off. A half wolf demon in the wolves of Mibu, how ironic… Even more so because wolves are on my food chain." He smirked dangerously, and the half wolf demon backed away slowly, and he lowered the sword slowly. "Jaken, is everything ready?" Jaken nodded his head shifting the staff he had between his hands.

"Yes Himura sama, do you want me to deal with the half breed?" the little imp asked. The red head shook his head, he didn't want the man dead. He wanted him scared and out of the way.

"Leave him be," Kenshin spoke softly, "we'll talk when I return. Let Sakura san know I will not be back for a while, as I assume you will be going to the castle keep next?" The half wolf nodded, he seemed pretty shaken and Kenshin realized his Chi was still unmasked from Sesshomaru's sudden appearance. He quickly fixed that and signaled for Jaken to lead the way.

The small toad lead him away from the city to a forest just far enough away that the humans would be safe. It had so much blood spilled over it the smell would have been picked up by even a human. Jaken fidgeted and set a jettison of flame up, demons of all shapes and sorts appeared. Centipedes, bears, foxes, wolves, cats, ravens, and even a few hanyou that looked mischievous. Jaken took the center, allowing Kenshin to stand back and observe the traits of those demons.

"Listen up, a tournament as been called," one of the demons started into, a wolf demon it seemed, "the caller is the human child there with red hair. He is here to represent the humans, he is here to stop our kind from attacking his village. Let him step forth now." Kenshin frowned, he wasn't sure what was going on, but it far too much attention on him. He stepped forth, ignoring every raised hair on the back of his neck. He also attempted to ignore the demon auras poking at him from where they were floating, standing, or doing whatever it was they were doing.

"Aizu lives in fear, to afraid they are trying to shoot at anything that moves, including other humans. It is unacceptable that such actions have been allowed to continue," the red head announced, his voice echoed more than he thought it would, "I am here to challenge you all for the rights to Aizu."

"Big words for such a tiny human," one of the bear demons spoke up, "but what right has a human to claim grounds? This has been the ancestral home to Daiyoukai of the West, the fearsome Sesshomaru Sama. What rights do you have to his land?" Kenshin had to work to withhold the snort of laughter, so that was why Sesshomaru wasn't planning on making an appearance.

"Then his rights are obvious," that voice was InuYasha's, the half dog demon must have been watching from somewhere, "perhaps this would be easier for you assholes to understand. He is challenging you as the human's champion, to defend the honor of the Western Lands which you have so dangerously smeared." The half demon scowled making himself visible to the rest of them, his arms folded in irritation. _It seems that InuYasha also supports your decision… His help will be necessary in this, but he is young and ignorant. He will be good for watching our back and that's about it._ Kenshin found the Daiyoukai's words comforting to know, but wondered why he seemed surprised by this update.

"Are you supporting his claim then Hanyou? You who has single handedly torn most of the Western Lands apart by simply being its Lord?" that was one of the wolf demons. InuYasha looked pissed at that comment, and the red head couldn't help but wonder what he was missing.

"It's not my fault you bunch are a group of backwards pureblood bastards worse than my jackass of a brother. If you find it so offensive, than why not challenge me for my rights to it?" InuYasha's tone was filled with something bordering on excitement, "If Sesshomaru couldn't put me down what makes any of you think you can?" The hanyou announced ready to draw his sword, Kenshin frowned at this. Why was this idiot only just now getting involved? _InuYasha lacks the focus to see the bigger picture until it is much too late. One of his annoying shortcomings as you'll learn, this however may be a better solution to your problem for now. Fight alongside the moron, it will prove better for Aizu._ Kenshin nodded, ready to drop into a Battoujitsu if necessary.

"May I ask why you are interfering?" Kenshin commented softly, one of the dog hanyou's ears twitched. He drew a sword at his side that was likely bigger than the red head.

"Call it payback for my earlier judgment of you. I had expected someone that my brother possessed to be just as much a cold hearted of an asshole as him," the hanyou answered equally soft, "I misjudged you, I'm no good at this politics shit, but I can hold my own against any demon after all that shit I went through against Naraku." The demons that had gathered appeared to have had enough, they rushed in, and it was by sheer luck that Kenshin's leap found him flying on one of them.

The centipede demons were the first to go after him, their discontent at his interference was the greatest. Sesshomaru remained blessedly silent as he cut them down, his strikes having become more vicious in light of his enemies strengths. He barely saw the dog hanyou, but not because of any amount of quick movement on his part. InuYasha he decided, had no idea how to really use a sword, it was more like a blunt club in the hands of a giant. A few times Kenshin had been forced to alter his own swings because he found the giant fang blade coming towards him.

Sesshomaru had been speaking the truth, the idiot did not see the bigger picture, but he soon found that the hanyou, like himself, possessed an attack that could solve these issues easily. The charged demon blade at his side sung as InuYasha raised his sword, the hair on the back of his neck raised as a vicious looking strike made of deep golds and yellows sprayed out. He was forced to parry off one of the lesser demon strike due to his slight distraction.

"You're pretty good at this kid," the hanryuo ground out as he forced a particularly nasty demon back, "but how would you have fared without me here?" Kenshin resisted the urge to laugh, he would have done fine without the hanyou, but he would have been far more injured in the process. However unlike the dog demons he had tact, he wasn't about to say anything about it.

"Did someone simply hand you a sword without any formal training? Those strikes were awful, and I have no doubt my baka deshi would have done fine without your interference," the sounds of his master's voice caused the red head to trip unceremoniously. Kenshin decided that his master must have been a distant relative of the dog demons, because his lack of tact was a close comparison to theirs. The hanyou frowned, finishing off the last of the hostiles going after Kenshin.

"Who the hell are you?" InuYasha demanded. _I knew I liked your choice of swordsmasters Himura. At last someone who agrees, the Moron has no skill with a blade._ If not for the fact that Sesshomaru had yet to show any emotion Kenshin would have sworn that statement was exasperated at him.

"Master, I did not expect to see you here," Kenshin interrupted attempting to thwart the upcoming conflict. Hiko raised an eyebrow at him before turning his attention back to the hanyou.

"I thought I was going have to rescue your scrawny ass, only to find this amateur holding his own. I've seen better swords play from children playing with sticks!" his master appeared to be in rant mode, and Kenshin could only watch helplessly as he insulted the poor dumb half demon into a confused rage.

Hiko dodged the first swing elegantly, and the half demon let out a string of curses. He tried and failed to land several blows on the swords master before him. Kenshin shook his head before making to leave, he had better things to do than watch his Master piss off a would be ally.

"When you two are finished you can find me in Aizu, there are people waiting to hear that they don't have to worry about demons in the area anymore," Kenshin announced making his way out of the bloody circle of demon remains.

* * *

"So who are you?" Hiko questioned after his apprentice left his potential hearing range. The Hanyou for his part was still upset at the swordsmanship remarks, but he realized he had enjoyed sparing with the swords master. He took one more swing out of spite before answering.

"You first!" he placed the sword in the ground frowning at Hiko. The swords master frowned at him, which didn't seem to bother the upset hanyou in the least, "You want answers? Then talk, I haven't got the time or patience. Damn that Sesshomaru…" Hiko's eyebrow raised, who the hell was Sesshomaru? More importantly why had this hanyou helped out his baka deshi?

"I am Seijiro Hiko, Master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. Who are you and why were you, a half demon, helping my apprentice?" he asked once again, a snowy bright eyebrow raised and a cocky smile crossed the other's lips briefly before it settled into a scowl again.

"I ain't telling you shit, you can ask Sesshomaru since he's dumped all his shit on me for the time being," the hanyou spat, "that and you had the nerve to say I had shitty swordsmanship. Not that its anywhere near as nice or elegant as that egotistical bastard Sesshomaru's, but still!"

"Who is Sesshomaru?" Hiko questioned carefully. There was a chuckle from the snowy haired hanyou that was staring his way, staring with the same cold golden eyes that… Hiko's brain had registered a long time ago that when the baka deshi's eyes went that color it wasn't by natural phenomenon. It was another thing entirely to realize that his apprentice was influenced by a being not unlike the childish talentless buffoon before him. "Crescent moon on the forehead, coupled by twin markings on his cheeks and sometimes forearms?" The other man nodded, a small smirk crossing his face.

"Sesshomaru is in that kid, don't ask me how, but he is. One of the great heartless bastards of the world stuck in the body of a human. Someone else may call it ironic, I call it about damn time. The kid doesn't seem to be anything like that jackass though," the hanyou considered aloud, "dunno why, but I kind of envy the kid. All that power, and a will to use it to do the right thing and all that…. I glad to see someone good got it, and that they're putting it to better use than he did." The hanyou was gone before Hiko could ask more, but he knew that his apprentice had a better idea of what was going on. Maybe he could ask him?

* * *

**CrimsonChoucho:**Please pardon my tardiness, I temporary was distracted. Highly distracted. This isn't beta'd, so alert me to any mistakes and I shall endeavor to fix them promptly.

I must also bring forth a minor confusion of mine, what is the spelling/word used for half demon? Hanryu, Hanryo, Hanyo? I shall make them uniform once I know, the problem being I am highly unsure of which it is. Gomen yo. Again sorry for the delays, I was working on other projects and preparing for a trip.


	10. Why So Serious?

Lord of the Tattoos

Crossover between: InuYasha and Rurouni Kenshin

AN: Might have updated this sooner if I was watching the shows again before this, just happened to pop Samurai X in the dvd player then the Saitou ark and this happened. Not sure what's going to happen in it anymore, so we'll see. I can say that I don't intend on rehashing everything, but I didn't want Sesshomaru joining the Mibu. What with Saitou a half wolf hanryu and their whole relationship throughout the series. I apologize for any OC-ness that occurs, I will try to stay in my own confined versions of Kenshin and Sesshomaru and not jump around too much. This is another impulsively written chapter, so sorry for any errors.

* * *

**Chapter 10- Why So Serious?**

Kenshin found himself surprised to feel his master's chi searching for him. While he felt the other man had been childish, he had no desire to piss the man off. He released his Chi just enough for his master to locate him, he was unsurprised to find the man coming directly towards him. His master was quickly catching up just as he re-entered the castle town, and the Shinsengumi were upon them without time to chat.

"Your words were true, the citizens were in the keep as you said. They also said you were working to resolve their demon issue?" the leader of the third squad of the Shinsengumi had regained some composure, but still was uneasy in Kenshin's presence. The red head nodded as Hiko sensei appeared, he raised an eyebrow at the Shinsengumi captain looking at them both uneasily.

"Baka deshi, I believe you have an explanation for the madness that just occurred back there?" Hiko ignored the wolf half demon. Kenshin shrugged, continuing his walk towards the castle keep, "why was that dog hanyou helping you?" The red head sent a wave of malicious Chi at the Shinsengumi Captain before he decided upon an answer for his swordsmaster.

"I have no idea, seeing as he and Sesshomaru seem to immensely dislike each other. However it appears that he is Sesshomaru's idiot younger brother," Kenshin explained, "Sesshomaru is the name of the Daiyoukai that saved my life as a child. I'm not entirely sure why I can hear him, but he doesn't appear to be dangerous. At least not to me… He doesn't control me unless he thinks it's too dangerous, he's more of a silent observer. He also agrees with you about Inuyasha's swordsmanship."

"Anyone who has trained in swordsmanship properly could see he was more like child waving around his favorite toy," his shishou mumbled, "that doesn't explain the amount of activity going on in this town. Is there something special attracting their attention to this place?" Kenshin thought about, nothing really stood out about the town. It had a castle, so therefore it was better financed than some of the surrounding areas, but other than that it didn't smell any different either… He was just as confused about their appearance here as ever.

"I am uncertain, when I arrived it was already in this condition," he clarified, "I would have to prod a little in order to find a suitable answer. I am as much in the dark about this as you are." They turned to the wolf hanyou standing near them.

"I can't tell either of you anything, you aren't with the government," the Shinsengumi captain informed them with a glare of annoyance, "what I can say is that the Shinsengumi have been tasked with cleaning out the demons." Kenshin looked up at his shishou, who seemed amused at that last statement.

"Well, then you can tell the government that you handled it then. Those demons were taken care of, with no thanks truly to the Shinsengumi's wolves," Hiko butted in, "my baka deshi apprentice took care of the hard part for you. I'd say you owe him something for his time." Kenshin could not believe this, was his shishou trying to get them arrested?

"Really, it was no big deal," Kenshin muttered to the ground, as Saitou and Hiko sensei got into a low toned verbal match up. It sadly appeared that even Saitou could not match his shishou for wits… too bad.

"I'll think about it, after I consider the fact he is a possessed whelp," the wolf bit back, "Or perhaps I'll consider the idea if he joins the Shinsengumi…" The red head turned his head up at that and furrowed his brows.

"No."

"No,-" Kenshin was shocked that Hiko sensei actually beat him to it, "not interested."

"What if we were to promise you good pay for your services?" the wolf asked.

"The answer is still no. You can't have him," the swords-master repeated, "The sword of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu would bring victory to whichever side it wields for."

"The amount of death that would come about because of such an idea," Kenshin couldn't even begin to comprehend the amount of people that would be killed by his sword if he worked for such a group.

"He would bring endless death wherever he was taken, and his soul would be tormented for the rest of its miserable existence. No, I could never allow that to happen, even I care more about my baka deshi than that," his Shishou answered flatly, "not only that, he'd be hunted down later on. Only because he doesn't agree with your cause, you'd try to convince him to change his mind with threats, and he would cut you down where you stand."

"Sesshomaru would never allow him to join the likes of your group," that was InuYasha's voice, "and I wouldn't either. Let him go now with his irritating swordsmaster, or I will stop you here forcably." His hand was on the hilt of his sword, but Kenshin signaled at the two of them to go. Hiko sensei understood and ignored him while InuYasha held his ground. Saitou just stood there weighing his options with his sword ready to draw, which seemed like a very wise decision considering the men he was trying to persuade, and failing badly.

"We should not waste our breath, this one will not listen to the likes of us," Kenshin took a deep breath, "he only answers to one thing, the sword."

"Wrong, he only answers to his wife," Hiko sensei amended, "be on your way baka deshi, we'll handle this." Kenshin left, he wasn't in the mood to argue with his sensei, it would only end with several bruises and most likely Sesshomaru's appearance. He did wonder who the other part of that 'we' was though. He took off for his master's residence to wait out this storm, he didn't need the Shinsengumi on his tail for recruitment.

_You honestly think this is about your recruitment?_ Sesshomaru's voice echoed in his head, _they will never stop hunting you. Hunting us, but the answer is easy. You will leave your master's apprenticeship. He can teach you no more in your present mindset._

"What do you mean 'he can teach me no more?', that doesn't make any sense Sesshomaru," Kenshin whispered, knowing full well that the Daiyoukai could hear him.

_Make your way into the blood nest that is the human capital, decide for yourself. Whatever you choose is your choice, if you fall then I will take up where you left off, _Sesshomaru's words were ominous, _however if I do everything will die. I am not your tool, I do not discriminate friend from foe the way you do. The only ones I spare are pack, you would do well to remember that._

With his words spoken Kenshin knew he was now on his own, and he could not afford to fall. He arrived back at his master's hut with a heavy heart a few days later, but knew that Sesshomaru was right. It was time for him to go. He would spend the next few hours thinking over just how he would word this to his master.

* * *

Hiko had claimed that he understood, that didn't stop him from tearing him a new one. He left for the outskirts of Kyoto the next day, he intended only to observe, it would keep him out of trouble, but instead he found a camp full of soldiers. He watched them for days, patrolling the camp and the city, neither of them offered the sort of absolute decision he was hoping for. Then he met the man that travelled between the two, the man named Katsura Kogorou.

Katsura was the leader of the Choshu clan, and he spoke frankly with Kenshin. He told Kenshin of all the evils in the world and what he faced with more sorrow than any man he had ever met. He spoke of his master, Yoshida, and then he spoke of what the current government was doing. He spoke of so many evils, so Kenshin inquired what he would make the world into, his world into if he only had the chance. He also warned him that if his answer also should include how he would make those changes.

Katsura's answer surprised him in its thoroughness, and his mention of the transgressions against the weak. His answer was everything that Kenshin wanted and more, only… it was too perfect. After learning more about Sesshomaru and his part in Kenshin's life, Kenshin was skeptical of anything and everything… or maybe that was a byproduct of living with Hiko for too long.

"…and you don't trust a word I'm saying. A wise policy," Katsura interrupted his thoughts, "never trust a politician to do anything except lie and you will never be disappointed. I do however intend to do as I have stated. I will make this world a better place for everyone, one step at a time. The first step just happens to be getting rid of the Tokugawa Shogunate and its oppressive reign over the people of Japan."

"I would agree, getting rid of them does seem pertinent from what I've seen of the Shogunate so far," Kenshin agreed, "but at what risk to the common people? I have been there, I have seen how they are sold as slaves with little to no value. I have seen my friends slaughtered in front of me, what will you offer those people, the people who need your 'justice' the most?" He stood in front of Katsura, waiting for an answer. He knew what the man would most likely say, but at the same time it was the question he would make all of them answer in the end.

"Ultimately there are three of us who made this plan, I would have you listen to our answer together normally. These are less than normal circumstances however," Katsura answered pinching the bridge of his nose, "I cannot tell you their names yet, but I will tell you that are ultimate goal is to turn this country into a nation-state." Kenshin's eyes widened ever so much.

"A country where it is ran by the people for the people, very idealistic," Kenshin shook his head, "you real do place your ideals on a rather high pedestal, don't you?"

"Only the highest for Yoshida sama, which he then entrusted to me," Katsura answered with a tired smile, "it was the best part of him, and the only part that lives on today unfortunately. So why stop me and ask all these questions? You don't appear to with us, then again you don't really act like you like the Shogunate either."

"I am a swordsman, trained in an ancient style that pits one against many, and usually ends with the many dead," Kenshin explained resting on his hilt, "I have no interest in politics, my interest is solely in the well being of the common man and who will help them-"

"You studied Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu?" Katsura interrupted in barely a whisper, "but how could one so young…"

"Does it matter? My master and I have a small disagreement about whether our help is needed or not," Kenshin explained, "there are people dying, innocent people, and sometimes the only way to save those innocent people is to put yourself in harms way, wouldn't you agree Katsura san?"

"Elegantly put, but why me? Why ask the leader of the Choshu if that's the case? Why not start your own clan and express your ideas to others?" Katsura asked far more at ease now than earlier. That might have had something to do with the way Kenshin had easily knocked out all twenty of his body guards in less than five minutes without killing any of them.

"I would suggest you were blind if I didn't know how deceiving appearances are first hand. I want no part in explaining what I want politicians to do, I need someone on the right path already to assist so that I might be able to fulfill my own promises that I made," Kenshin offered pulling his sword (sheath and all) and presenting it to Katsura, "so long as your goal is the same as mine you can count on my sword. I like your ideals, and I would hate to see what might become of such an interesting plan if you don't make it to your goals."

"As unexpected as you help is young man I am greatly appreciative of it," Katsura held out a hand, "so what do I call you? And just what exactly is it you are willing to do for my cause?"

"I am called Himura Kenshin," he answered placing his hand against the other's for a handshake, "and there is nothing I won't do to protect the innocents of this country. Even kill."

"Good to hear," Katsura answered giving his hand a firm shake before releasing it, "meet us in Kyoto tomorrow afternoon, I'll get you the appropriate information and your contacts. One of them will give you your orders via envelope on the day of the assignment, this means that you will be unable to research who it is you are cutting down. Will this bother you?"

"No," the red head shook his head, "but if you deceive me—"

"I have no intentions of doing so Himura, my words are as I intend my actions to be," Katsura smiled, "hopefully we can share a drink at the end of this, I'm sure we'll both need it by then."

"Perhaps," Kenshin responds with a nod of his head. When Katsura turns his head he takes off for Kyoto, fully aware that all that awaits him there for the next several years most likely is blood and murders.

* * *

**To be contiuned...  
**


	11. The Essence of White Plums

Lord of the Tattoos

Crossover between: InuYasha and Rurouni Kenshin

Um... yeah... so I have no idea what possessed me during this chapter. So bear with me as this might have just taken an abrupt left hand turn into oncoming traffic, there will be swearing involved as I swerve to try to avoid anything REALLY unintentional. What I can tell you is that there is a hell of a lot of chapter here for you guys. Point of views will be labelled in an attempt to help lessen the confusion. Uber thanks to reviewer pammazola for the proper spelling of hanyou which I will be going back to correct tonight in the other ten chapters as I suspect that error is everywhere...

Last time: ~~~_"Perhaps," Kenshin responds with a nod of his head. When Katsura turns his head he takes off for Kyoto, fully aware that all that awaits him there for the next several years most likely is blood and murders.~~~_

**Chapter 11- The Essence of White Plums**

* * *

Kenshin sat there drinking, he was still half a year away from being considered a 'man' rather than a boy. He had ran into some interesting trouble recently, and somehow it resulted with someone's sword actually marring his perfect skin. The blasted wound refused to close, and Kenshin was sorely tempted to use the Tenseiga to fix it if it didn't close up soon. Saitou happened to sit down across from him, which normally meant his entire evening was about to be ruined.

"You work for Katsura right?" the wolf hanyou asked quietly. Kenshin leveled him with a glare, such questions were against the rules. Saitou was welcome to ask for help, but nothing about his work… there were too many political games going on for that.

"We have discussed this Saitou," he warned before taking another sip of his sake, "we also discussed that you would leave me alone when I wanted to drink."

"Hasn't stopped me from following you before, why would it now?" the wolf hanyou of the Shinsengumi shrugged with a toothy smirk, "it's important otherwise I wouldn't be here Himura." Kenshin raised an eyebrow, normally the man beat more around the bush than this.

"This seems more like a moonlit conversation than a tavern one wolf," he whispered. The man nodded paid Kenshin's tab and the two of them walked out into the streets before hopping up to a point it would be exceedingly difficult for someone to eavesdrop.

"Aku Soku Zan," the wolf hanyou started with, Kenshin nodded, "there are concerns amongst the Mibu about a certain insurgency plot. Katsura's name has appeared, we will be called to strike against the meetings soon, the Shinsengumi I mean."

"You have nothing to worry about Katsura, he's not your enemy. While he is on a different side than the one you have chosen his goals are very similar to yours. For your sake, and my own you had best have more to go on than that," Kenshin spoke looking over the city bored, he didn't have an actual assignment tonight, which was why he tolerated the wolf's presence in his part of town.

"It is an unspoken fact amongst youkai that you are backing the Choshu, since you are the mutt has agreed to side with them as well. This means that the entirety of the Western lands is now backing the Choshu clan and its plans," Saitou explained, "does Katsura know about that?"

While Kenshin had considered asking Sesshomaru's little brother what he thought about the whole war he never thought that InuYasha would just accept whatever side he choose without question. To find out that the entire Western Lands now supported Choshu's bid for change was a bit of a shocker. Kenshin did know that he had unknowingly at first claimed several parts of Kyoto as his with his work, but the scope of it all had been rather lost to him in light of all the deaths he was causing.

"I am unsure if he knows," Kenshin glanced back to the wolf hanyou with a deep frown, "I didn't know that he was backing my decision, or that he even knew what clan I was working for quite frankly. InuYasha doesn't strike me as a well informed ruler, but I haven't seen him in several years myself. How do you know who he's backing?" The wolf hanyou snorted like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

"He's been sighted in town, not by the humans, but some of the Shinsengumi have run across him. The results range from comically outmatched to just plain amusing. He checks on you personally," Saitou added, "said that he doesn't trust his advisors with such an important task."

"That would not surprise me to learn," Kenshin remarked under his breath, "so why are the Mibu so interested in Katsura, surely they don't know what you just told me."

"No, they have no dealings with the Youkai, most of whom are content to let the humans kill each other out," Saitou confirmed, "the problem lies with an acquaintance of Katsura's. I believe his name is Miyabe or something?" Kenshin sighed, he knew exactly who he was referring to.

"That man is an idiot. No, Katsura is attempting to cut ties with him completely from my understanding. That nutcase almost had Katsura ready to draw his sword on him," Kenshin replied irritatedly, "Katsura has sworn an oath to one of his officers to never draw a blade again, so that is a relatively large statement by itself. He has no intention of following any of Miyabe's plans."

"That's reassuring," the wolf hanyou mused, "what on earth is that smell?"

"White plums, it's coming from the night district I think," Kenshin answered sniffing the air, "I have to go bother Katsura now, did you have anything to tell him?" The wolf hanyou shook his head and was gone before Kenshin could say anything more.

* * *

**KATSURA PoV**

Katsura was reading with the young red head made his way into his room, his consort was back home for the time being so it was only logical that his best assassin would talk now. The boy looked startled by something, which already somewhat of a feat from what Katsura knew about him. He sat down quietly, and waited for him to finish with his book before speaking. Kategai was probably going to have a fit when he discovered the impromptu meeting.

"It's been a while since you last stopped in, has something happened?" Katsura asked cautiously.

"In a manner of speaking, do you remember how I told you I occasionally gossip with a member of the Shinsengumi?" the red head asked, "he had some interesting things to say tonight."

"Pardon me Kenshin, but it strikes me as odd you are gossiping with a member of the Shinsengumi in the first place," Katsura interrupted, "most of my men would be killed for such a thing by Kategai."

"We have a standard no discussing work rule, which he breaks more than I do. He owes me a rather huge favor from before I joined," Kenshin explained, "it's a long story, but his information is reliable."

"If you say so, but I cannot rely on the words of a Shinsengumi operative to determine my politics for the clan," Katsura insisted, "you also said you don't want anything to do with politics. Which is exactly why I assigned you assassinations in the first place all those years ago."

"His information is something I can and will have independently confirmed, I assure you that it may have some effect on your morale to say the least," the red head pulled his swords and set them to the side. Katsura was intrigued, this was the most respectful the red head had been in a long time.

"So what did your wolf of Mibu have to tell you that is so important?" Katsura asked setting his book aside. The red head held up a hand with his eyes closed and another sword appeared, only this one came from thin air.

"This is Tenseiga, it is a InuYoukai's sword, it happens to belong to the Lord of the Western Lands in particular. Currently his younger brother is running said lands," the red head started, "this is important to you because that particular hanyou is supporting the Choshu clan. Which is the first thing that Wolf of Mibu told me…"

"Youkai don't interest themselves in the wars of men, how can you be so sure that it was true," Katsura would love it if such a far-fetched idea were true, he just didn't think it was possible.

"I will bring that InuYoukai here, he can confirm that for you if you want, his reasons for supporting you have to do with this sword right here though," the red head said pointing to the sword, "Tetsusaiga, his sword can kill a hundred demons in one sweep, where as Tenseiga its brother can save a hundred souls in one sweep. I possess Tenseiga, so he follows my lead on some matters."

"Why do you have an InuYoukai's sword in the first place?" Katsura interrupted.

"I can't tell you that right now, what I can tell you is that the Wolf of Mibu I have been speaking to you is a wolf hanyo, so his word on that is fine. Especially when it started with Aku. Soku. Zan," Kenshin explained, "I have been speaking about you to him, which I realize is out of turn, but hear me out."

"What have you been saying? I can only hope you haven't done something foolish that will get us all killed," Katsura asked suspicious of the red head sitting across from him.

"Nothing of consequence has been said other that your intentions are pure, and that I would be rather pissed off should something occur that would abruptly end your life," the red head answered easily, "he was asking about your connection to Miyabe. I told him you did not side with his ideas at all."

"That's rather fortunate, why is he so concerned about—" Katsura was inturrpted by loud footsteps outside his door, and a silver haired man walked right in and sat down it his arms folded impatiently, "can I help you?"

"No, I came to see him," there was a thumb rudely pointed over in Kenshin's direction, "you must be Katsura."

"He is, and you need to learn a little restraint," the red head chastised the silver haired man, "you are blending in better, but your manners are worse than Izukai's still. You'd think with running the Western Lands you behavior might have improved…" Katsura was watching the two of them interact carefully, he wasn't sure what to make of this newcomer to his room.

"She only said responsibility, not my manners. You got saddled with compassion and everything else remember?" the silver haired man reminded him, "so the little toad said you had something to ask me about?"

"Yes, I did, is it true that the Western Lands is backing my decision to work with the Choshu?" the red head questioned, "and if so, why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"It didn't seem important at the time bozu, but yes," the silver haired man responded, "we are supporting Choshu's actions discretely from the Youkai side. That's why there aren't many full blooded Youkai in Kyoto at present. I think there's you and a couple of Koga's clan with the Shinsengumi."

"Wait… what?" Katsura looked back and forth between the two of them, "he's not a Youkai." Kenshin sighed, and the silver haired man laughed.

"Actually… I am, well sort of. It's part of the story of why I have Tenseiga and Tokijin," the red head conceded, "I can't control or use any of the Youkai abilities right now so it's a moot point to bring up. The more important part is that yes, we do have the support of the Western Lands and InuYasha right now."

"So why are you talking to a Wolf of Mibu about me?" Katsura decided to skip onto. The silver haired man lounged where he was at and the red head looked at him with annoyance.

"The wolf hanyou was implying that it would not be safe for you to attend meetings that Miyabe is at," Kenshin passed on, "is there a way you could loan me someone to guard Katsura when I'm not around InuYasha?"

"Why not just assign Jaken?" the silver haired man complained, "I have enough staff issues with your resquests."

"Sesshomaru said that you owed me one, consider it paid if you could spare someone," Kenshin bartered, "I would feel a lot more at ease knowing that a Youkai was watching over him in addition to his regular guards."

"Obviously I can't watch him, I could see if Koga's got someone he would recommend, otherwise I might send Kurosawa san," InuYasha thought aloud, "on second thought I will send both Kurosawas. They should be more than enough."

"Don't I get any say in this manner?" Katsura asked watching the two of them bicker about it for the moment.

"Kurosawa? He'd be perfect, but you said something about both?" Kenshin's eyebrow was halfway up his forehead.

"Jin and his twin Kuri, they are too much like Sesshomaru for my liking…" InuYasha replied after a moment, "too cold, and they don't get along well with others."

"Sounds good, tomorrow?" InuYasha nodded, and stood up, "you should get back soon if that's the case. Safe travels idiot."

"I will bozu," the silver haired half demon nodded, "later Katsura." With a twitch more of his ears the peculiar man was off. Leaving Katsura alone with Kenshin once more.

"Do you trust him? And do you know of these 'Kurosawa' twins he is referring to?" Katsura was uneasy about this whole thing.

"InuYasha? I have no reason not to, he is acting under his own judgment, and he appeared to like you as well. That is beneficial should we require help," Kenshin answered easily, "he is a rather simple individual, his elder brother however is another story. Sesshomaru is… was a cold hearted InuDaiyoukai sentenced to learn compassion."

"Why would anyone force a demon lord to learn compassion?" Katsura asked, sure that this one demon had everything to do with whatever his red headed assassin was telling him.

"I am unsure, but in order to learn this lesson he decided to live among humankind. Sesshomaru saved my life as a small child, I am unaware of all of the details of how, but his power and soul now reside within my body. They have since I was born," Kenshin explained, "this is the secret I have kept from you, I suppose you can understand why?"

Katsura sat there dumbfounded, his great assassin was actually an InuDaiyoukai possessed child? That certainly explained why the child was so strong and why he was hanging around with a wolf hanyou. It also explained why the young red head was so… exotic looking.

"Katsura?" the red head was looking at him with that innocent confused look, "are you okay Katsura?" He took a step forward, and Katsura was hypnotized by the young man's amethyst eyes. He found himself unable to move, almost unable to breathe. A gentle hand pressed against his forehead as those eyes watched him in concern.

"I… I don't know," Katsura pulled his head back from Kenshin's hand, he couldn't pull his thoughts away from the boy in front of him, "I… I… I think you should go." The Choshu leader couldn't understand what was going on, he'd never been so unable to control himself. Kenshin's eyes widened, he took several steps back looking at the sword he had called 'Tenseiga' then back to Katsura.

"What's wrong with you?" the red head asked still confused. Amber flashed through those amethyst eyes that were locked on him, it sent a shiver down his spine. His shiver made the amber reappear, it also made some strange facial markings across Kenshin's cheeks and forehead, completely backing Kenshin's story. This time the amber didn't leave those orbs.

"You seem to be at a loss for words," this amber eyed version of the red head, "and a loss of breath. Himura's concern for you was great enough for him to call me out when I told him I would kill everything, but there is nothing threatening our life, so why would he call on me now?" Katsura felt the air catch in his lungs, his heart beat too fast, and the fear made his mouth go dry. What had Kenshin just released on all of them?

"I… do not know," Katsura whispered, "what are you going to do? If you told Kenshin that you would kill everything, what will you do to me?" The red head's face had gone unreadable, it was terrifying for Katsura, especially when this demon leaning down just in front of his feet.

"Ah, but I do. Which I suppose is everything," the Daiyoukai responded with an uninterested voice, "Kenshin, he truly believes that humanity, which he has never belonged to, is worth saving. He wants me to mark you as pack I suspect, which is to protect you from me. InuYasha has been by, I can smell his presence, which means he approved whether or not he realizes it." The Daiyoukai smirked, and Katsura felt like his blood was freezing in his veins.

"Why would he… you need to do that?" Katsura's voice was still shaky, and it seemed to amuse the Daiyoukai further.

"It would mean that he thinks the area is about to get dangerous, or perhaps he just thinks it is better to be safe than sorry. I will mark you if I see the need to so," the Daiyoukai whispered into Katsura's ear, "in the meantime, you will be working with me. I will take Himura's assignments, but you will bring them yourself. Leave them here, with the scent of white plums, I will get them. Do you understand?"

"Yes… What about the rest of our clan, the Choshu?" Katsura questioned, "InuYasha is sending two more… to protect me at Kenshin's request. The Kurosawa twins?" The Daiyoukai tilted his head and brought a hand to his chin.

"That is why he wants you marked, that way you are also protected from them. Kenshin has a far better understanding of Youkai than I give his human loving mind credit for," the Daiyoukai flexed Himura's hands, from his nails became deadly claws that emitted a mortifying green color.

"What the hell do you think you are doing in here Himura?" Kategai looked at the two of them, then at the claws, "what the hell are you?"

* * *

**SESSHOMARU PoV**

Sesshomaru looked at the newcomer with slight interest, what interesting people little Himura worked with. He stepped between the new man and Katsura, he did not know much about Kenshin's situation right now. He was beginning to regret his choice not to be involved.

"Kategai," Katsura stood up and placed a hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder hesitantly, "this is not what it looks like." Sesshomaru watched as Katsura, who was currently drowning in hormones of all sorts, tried to diffuse the situation that he thought was appearing. Kategai was frowning spectacularly, and Sesshomaru retracted his claws after spotting Tenseiga and another set of swords that smelled like Sesshomaru/Kenshin's scent.

"Katsura, he is not allowed in your room, especially not after dark and certainly not alone," Kategai tried to lock eyes with Sesshomaru, but Katsura moved directly between the two of them.

"I called Himura in, I wanted to speak privately with him," Katsura moved his hand from on Sesshomaru's shoulder to a possessive posture, wrapping it past his neck to his other shoulder, "I am allowed to call my operatives in on my own, aren't I?" His pitch dropped, and Sesshomaru felt Himura's pheromones respond to Katsura's hormones. Sesshomaru leaned in against Katsura, marking the man with his actual sent rather than just Himura's restrained scent. The first step in marking the human, and Katsura was responding to those pheromones by pulling him closer.

"Katsura, this is highly irregular," Kategai started to argue, and Sesshomaru realized that Katsura didn't want him to kill the other man or capture him in the same way that he had been.

"Himura isn't going to hurt me, are you?" Katsura's voice dropped to address him. Sesshomaru was too curious to argue at present, but that didn't mean he was going to make Katsura's job easy for him, "he's not even wearing his swords Kategai."

"He's a demon sir, **that** makes him a threat," the other man ground out drawing his sword. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow before pulling Katsura's arm off his person, he called Tokijin and the sword jumped to his hand.

"Kategai, he's a Daiyoukai," Katsura responded still trying to keep Kategai alive. Sesshomaru was about ready to end this foolishness himself, despite Katsura's assurances that they were both to remain alive.

"Himura's a what?" the man responded.

"You are speaking to Sesshomaru sama, Lord of the Western Lands," Jaken interrupted as he reappeared, "are you okay Sesshomaru sama?" Sesshomaru frowned, he hadn't called Jaken, why was the little toad doing here now?

"Jaken," Sesshomaru acknowledged, then placed the Tokijin in his belt, "escort this man out. Is InuYasha sending the Kurosawa twins like Katsura said?"

"Yes they are my lord. What should I do with him my lord?" Jaken asked looking over at Kategai. Sesshomaru wondered what his former Lieutenant would think of the Choshu men.

"Keep him alive and relatively unharmed," Sesshomaru's could see Katsura shiver at his voice again, "I have business with this one. It has to be finished before those two arrive."

"Kategai," Katsura made a pleading expression, "I'll be fine." Kategai, realizing he probably had no choice, exited with Jaken who would keep any other would be interrupters away. Sesshomaru watched as Katsura started to shake and fall to his knees under the pressures of his own hormones, particularly lust.

"Your level of self control is amusing, but no longer necessary," Sesshomaru whispered, breathing lightly on the man's neck as he did so, "this will hurt you. It will however protect you from the twins, you'll be out for several days, so you might want to write out some instructions to your friend so he doesn't do something stupid."

"What are you going to do?" Katsura asked moving towards where he kept his writing tools. Sesshomaru showed his fangs in a world ending smirk, and sent out some calming pheromones which allowed the other man to relax a little. Sesshomaru watched as he wrote a letter several pages long. "Can I give this to Kategai? That way he knows it was my choice, and that way he listens to my instructions." As he turned Sesshomaru sunk his fangs fully into his neck, Katsura froze at the feeling.

He licked as he removed his fangs from the man's neck to help delude the poison, and was surprised to see the other man's eyes cloud over with lust rather than fear. Sesshomaru was so amused by this man that he thought about giving him a second dose, but it would probably kill the man to do so right now.

"You have a little over twenty minutes," Sesshomaru explained, "the poison from my system won't kill you, but it will render you unconscious while you recover. No demon in the right mind will come after you, especially with my scent drifting off you now. I will keep an eye over you until the Kurosawa twins get here."

* * *

**~A week later~**

* * *

"What did you do to Katsura? He smells funny," Saitou asked sitting on the roof top next to Sesshomaru, "you aren't Himura right now are you?"

"I'm surprised a half breed like you noticed," Sesshomaru responded, "but yes, Himura's taken a back seat for the moment. He had me mark Katsura as pack."

"Ah, that explains the overbearing smell of dog in this town right now. Who are the two new guys following him around?" Saitou asked, "I've encountered the woman occasionally, she seems to be checking over the whole town inch by inch."

"My Lieutenants the Kurosawas, they are Katsura's new bodyguards. Jin could take out the Shinsengumi on his own with no difficulty, so he's rather bored," Sesshomaru answered looking over the dark streets, Saitou happened to be hiding next to Sesshomaru on his mortal night.

"I'm surprised you met me up here tonight," Saitou answered, "your reputation with your brother is not very comforting for most half demons. What has changed?"

"That is none of your concern," Sesshomaru answered, "get inside, there's a foul chi in the area. Now." He jumped down silently, he had worn Himura's hair down since that night. The swooshing it made as he walked was irritating. He walked down the alleyway silent as death, his eyes seeing everything despite the lack of light. Then his nose caught onto the scent of white plums, he also could smell something dark and foul.

"Show yourself your filthy dog," someone called, Sesshomaru looked around, keeping his chi tightly masked. He was at a slight disadvantage since he was restricted to Himura's swords instead of Bakusaiga and Tokijin. "WHERE ARE YOU?" Sesshomaru stepped into deeper shadows and watched an assassin wander past unknowingly.

"Here," Sesshomaru announces from a reasonable distance back, "assuming that you meant me." The assassin turned to look at him, when he still couldn't see him Sesshomaru smirked. The man drew his swords, which a chain like the one on Kohaku's kasarigama connecting them.

"You will die," the man announced. Sesshomaru stood still, wondering just what this idiot wanted with him. He just wanted to, nope… he was just going to slice him in half. Sesshomaru cracked his knuckles, and brought his fingers together to form his whip.

"Unlikely," Sesshomaru retorted. The assassin launched himself forward and Sesshomaru sent the whip of light forward. He delicately flicked his wrist, the assassin that had foolishly attacked Sesshomaru was reduced to little more than blood in a few quick strokes. He dispelled his whip and was treated to the sight of a blood soaked woman in a white kimono. The same woman that had been walking around with the scent of the white plum for the last month or so…

"You… you make the rain bleed," she stated looking at him blankly. Sesshomaru tilted his head and watched as she toppled into the blood with no warning. It was then that Kenshin started to stir again, causing Sesshomaru a little irritation. He wasn't ready to give Himura back his control yet, he was quite enjoying the bloodbath requests of Katsura. Well, more like his men's assignments since Katsura had been out cold until this morning.

"Saitou," the Daiyoukai called, soon enough the wolf hanyou appeared. It took a little longer than usual since his night vision was gone for the night.

"What is it, oh… quite a pretty one you've found there," Saitou said looking over the woman lying in the puddle blood left by the failed assassination attempt. "What are you going to do with her?"

"Himura seems to be interested in her," Sesshomaru responded. He wasn't interested in carrying the woman back to the hotel.

"So take her with you, get her cleaned up and find something for her to do while you use Himura," the wolf hanyou remarks, "she certainly smells pleasant. Wonder what she was doing here…"

"I don't know, I'll have Kuri clean her up then," Sesshomaru looked at Saitou with an impassive look, "you are going to carry her." The wolf hanyou didn't bother to argue, he carried the woman as deep into the InuDaiyoukai's territory in Kyoto as he dared. Sesshomaru dismissed him as they came into view of the Choshu motel housing the newly recovered Katsura and the Kurosawa twins, Kuri was already outside waiting for him.

"Who is that?" the female youkai questioned, referring only to the blood soaked female rather than the wolf hanyou who was retreating, "what do you want done with her?"

"Clean her up, have her join the hotel staff, keep an eye on her," Sesshomaru instructed, "when did Katsura awaken?" He assumed that was why she was outside waiting in the first place.

"10 minutes ago, he was asking for you. Izukai seems to be getting uneasy," she replied, "I don't know if it's the lack of bodies combined with the amount of blood or if it is Jin's constant presence."

"Probably both, your brother has a knack for disturbing anything less than a Daiyoukai," Sesshomaru answered with his version of a chuckle. Kuri nodded with her own version of a smirk, she slung the unconscious girl over her shoulder with little effort.

"Do you want her dropped off in your quarters later?" she asked as he walked in through the main gates, "my Lord?" Sesshomaru could see Katsura standing at the koi pond waiting for him with an extreme look of displeasure.

"Take care of it, it appears someone wants a word," Sesshomaru dismissed her with a nod of his head. He almost glided over to the koi pond where Katsura was waiting, Jin's scent was everywhere, meaning Katsura had asked the man to clear the area.

"You poisoned me, intentionally," Katsura growled, he certainly sounded irritated.

"I warned you," Sesshomaru looked over the man, "you recovered well enough. You belong to the Western Lands clan now, you do well to remember that."

"Does it change anything I need to know about?" Katsura asked him with a weary expression, "when will you release your hold on Himura?"

"I will release Himura when I want, this is my body, not his," the Daiyoukai growled, "I was told to show compassion, I saved Himura. I saved his friend 8 years later, and now I have saved someone else for him. He isn't complaining, and I am still doing his assassinations. I will relinquish control when Kenshin is no longer expected to kill for you."

"That isn't what you told him is it?" Katsura responded, "he's a human boy underneath all your power, he needs to grow like one and learn restraint like a normal human boy." The InuDaiyoukai resisted the urge to laugh, Kenshin was inwardly shaking his head at the Choshu leader.

"I assume you have more than that to say, otherwise you would have waited," Sesshomaru questioned. Katsura flicked some fish food out into the pond wearily, and Sesshomaru watched the way he hesitated, "what is wrong, you are more… disconcerted than when you were marked."

"Izukai is concerned about the rumors penetrating the town, ones that Kategai also shares. While I may not have been awake they did leave an incredible amount of letters that your 'friends' took the liberty of informing of," Katsura's voice, "I have only glimpsed the male one, but Kuri is certainly a piece of work from what I've seen."

"Kuri and Jin are my Lieutenants, you can trust them to practice some discretion. Jin can assist you should you require any tactical suggestions, he beyond overqualified to be your bodyguard Katsura kun," the InuDaiyoukai pointed out, "I'm far more interested in your disturbing rumors." Katsura didn't even bat an eye at the vocal demotion from Sesshomaru.

"Izukai's comment is he would like to actually be able to see who they are labeling as a 'message' for our enemies. Kategai is more unsettled about the random puddles of blood that aren't from your assignments," Katsura explained turning to him, "not to mention the fact that you poisoned me. He doesn't trust you, and he thinks you're going to kill all of us."

"If I wanted you dead we wouldn't be talking," Sesshomaru responded with a snort of amusement, "you can come out now Kategai, your heartbeat is loud enough to wake the dead."

"Why did you poison Katsura?" the man asked coming up to face him.

* * *

**KATSURA PoV**

Katsura watched in horror as Kategai invaded Sesshomaru's space, the damned fool was trying to get himself killed if he didn't watch it. Kuri had laughed as Katsura described Sesshomaru's first reaction to his overly vocal advisor, then she told him Sesshomaru holding any type of sword usually was deadly. He pushed himself between the two of them once again, knowing that Sesshomaru wouldn't kill him for pulling him back. Surprisingly the Daiyoukai moved willingly back at the slight effort on Katsura's face.

"Kategai please," Katsura turned and held his arms out, "you are going to get yourself killed over this."

"The poison was deluded with the intention that Katsura live through it," Sesshomaru explained locking eyes with Kategai over Katsura's shoulder, "it was Himura's request. He wanted Katsura kun protected from other Youkai, more specifically me if I went off the handle." Katsura was surprised that Sesshomaru was even answering.

"Why would Himura think he would need protection from you?" Kategai asked. Katsura had learned from Kuri that Kenshin's concerns were rather obvious. The Daiyoukai Sesshomaru left a city wide path of destruction wherever he went, especially when he was in a bad mood. Kenshin had him marked so Sesshomaru would remember not to level Kyoto in a fit of rage.

"The Bozu didn't want him to level Kyoto, that was an obvious reason," Jin's gravelly tone announced bored, "do you require anything more of me tonight Sesshomaru sama?" Katsura could just make out the Youkai's form sitting on the nearby roof.

"Katsura mentioned that you were concerned about the blood trails that you are assuming are from me," Sesshomaru questioned walking ever so slightly to the side of Katsura, "just how many people have gone missing that you would blame on me?"

"Dozens, but not all of them leave the same massive puddles of blood you do. Most of them don't, it's like the bodies were absconded with," Kategai answered curtly, "it wasn't your two new buddies you have watching over Katsura?" It was the snort from Jin that clued him in that his advisor was so far off, he glanced over his shoulder to look at Sesshomaru who had placed a hand on his chin as he was in mid thought.

"Hardly, Kuri and I don't leave a trail like Sesshomaru sama. He doesn't believe in discretion at times, he wouldn't know tact if it hit him square in the face either. No, this is someone else's work," the blond youkai responded with slight amusement, "I'll look into it none the less, it could prove entertaining."

"No," Sesshomaru responded, "let me check with the wolf first, he might know what's going on. I doubt this is anything more than a quiet plot to cause unrest for the humans."

"As you wish my Lord," Jin bowed deeply and took his leave. Sesshomaru removed his hand from his chin and started to walk away.

"We aren't finished here yet," Kategai spoke pointing at Sesshomaru's retreating form.

"No, we are not, stay here. I need more information, Jin will be watching the hotel, he'll handle anything messy that comes up," Sesshomaru explained, "I don't like this development. It has the marks of something troublesome, like that damned annoying half breed. It might also accelerate your old associate Miyabe's plans to quickly for that moron to control. I will be back in a few hours with more details." Katsura watched as Himura's possessed form disappeared in a flash.

"What does that thing want with you?" Kategai asked Katsura, "first he poisons you, then he threatens us, now he's off doing kami sama knows what." Katsura motioned for Kategai to follow him inside for more privacy.

"He would have killed you," Katsura informed him, "one of these times Sesshomaru is going to kill you and I won't be there to put myself in-between the two of you. Himura has given me the ability to stand up to Sesshomaru by having me marked. We do not have the luxury of asking him to do the same for you. We need to play our cards right or I'll be the only one left standing." Kategai was uncomfortably silent for several minutes, and Katsura never suspected the next question out of his mouth.

"Are you sleeping with it?" Kategai asked cornering him in his room. Katsura would have laughed if he wasn't sure that Jin and probably Kuri hadn't heard that as well. Instead he opted for a snicker, and then heard a tapping at the doorway. He opened the door to reveal a very scandalized looking Kuri.

"First of all Lord Sesshomaru is a he, not an it. Second of all he doesn't sleep—" the she demon said shaking her finger. Katsura watched bemused as his favorite advisor was given a full dressing down.

* * *

**CrimsonChoucho:** I suppose its a good thing I have even a margin of restraint otherwise I would have had Katsura and Sesshomaru/Kenshin sleeping together. Which you have no idea how tempting that was, but I resisted! Anyways you will find that everyone seems to think that they are as result of my corrupt mind.


End file.
